UtaPri: Secret Origins
by Mythia-san
Summary: The Happy Pulse affected all but one person in the entire world after the UtaPri Awards. That girl was somehow brought into the Shining Agency as a pretty harsh critic named Hirano Aoi... at first. What does it mean when a girl had nearly no public information, the same height and age as Haruka, was thought dead, and kept changing her ego? [QN/OC] [slight OC/STARISH] (revamping)
1. Who Is That Girl?

**Original Summary: The legend of the Happy Pulse was found in STARISH's Maji Love Songs. It had affected even the most cold-hearted ones, creating a stir in the world. However, only one person is destined to be unaffected, who happened to be a girl of seventeen named Hirano Aoi, a hostile and cold one who grew up alone. Saotome had reached her and hired her in the Shining Agency as a critic and co-composer for his bands STARISH and QUARTET NIGHT, along with cooperating with Raging Agency's HEAVENS. Hirano was somehow connected to every one of them, especially Nanami Haruka... but how? (OC/?)**

**Author's Note: I am obsessed with this anime, honestly. I don't completely know of Camus' route, along with Hijirikawa's and some others, but from wikia and the anime, I had tried my best of the accuracy of each character's personalities and such! I hope you enjoy this!**

**Disclaimer: The Uta no Prince-sama games and anime series do not belong to me. I do however own this plot and my OC. :)**

* * *

Chapter One: Who Is That Girl?

It had been over a week since STARISH had won the UtaPri Award against HEAVENS. They celebrated their victory by having two weeks of a break, one already passing by like freedom couldn't run fast enough from life. STARISH and QUARTET NIGHT had several ways to celebrate, but they had argued all of the time on what to do.

Mikaze Ai and Camus hadn't really cared about any type of party, since they would just decline the invitation anyway. Kurosaki Ranmaru would come if there were really well described food in the invitation, and Kotobuki Reiji would always come because he was quite friendly in his own way and liked to socialize.

Nanami Haruka took a break on composing and songwriting as well, having time to meet up with STARISH and the others. After all, Shibuya Tomochika hid all of her unfinished music pieces for her to worry about in the future (though that didn't stop Haruka from hearing new tunes in her mind, envisioning them on sheets and secretly writing them down).

Shining Saotome, however, wasn't free to do what his singing group pleased temporarily. He was very busy speaking with a girl he was _quite_ interested in and wished to hire. After their private meeting, he hired her without much paperwork needed. After all, according to her, only he had learned her darkest secrets.

However, she had more that she kept deep inside. She knew a lot about the people she was about to work with and wanted them to not know as much about her.

* * *

"_Oh ho! Look out below!_" Saotome bellowed in the skies, apparently skydiving and landed in a comfy parachute on the bottom grounds next to the master course building he owned.

"Eh - Saotome!" Haruka exclaimed in surprise, seeing the principal through the window of her room. She rushed by the window, struggling to lift it up.

_"Miss_ Haruka! Summon the others!" His loud lion-like roar reached the redhead's ears, as she listened with wide eyes and open ears, her hair flying wildly around her face from the wind. The secret music sheets she was previously looking over scattered on the ground and on her bed by the rush. She hastily shut the window to prevent excessive mess and glanced anxiously around, taking a deep breath and shutting the door behind her as she quickened her fast pace.

Running through the halls, she bumped into Ranmaru. "Kurosaki-senpai!" she called instinctively. "I need you to help me gather everyone up! Saotome wishes to speak with us!" Her yellowish-orange eyes practically pleaded to the dual-eyed man, who sighed tiredly. His own dual-colored eyes, silver and violet, glanced over at her shaky form, clad in a flowing cream dress with a thin gray cardigan and a small jewel necklace. Her feet seemed sore as she wore navy heels. Her legs looked as if they'd collapse, but Haruka didn't seem to notice.

"On our break?" he mumbled, tearing his gaze and scowling deeper than usual. "Right, where do we meet?"

"Outside, where the fountain with the angel statue is at the front doors," Nanami replied breathlessly as she was already in the other hall. Ranmaru ran a hand in his short choppy grayish-white hair, his other hand on his hip that had a flannel wrapped around his waist, a band tee resting on his shoulders. He turned the ball of his heel, adorned in casual boots, and walked away to gather the juniors he "mentored," which were Jingugi Ren and Hijirikawa Masato.

Meanwhile, the room closest to Nanami's was where STARISH members Kurusu Syo and Shinomiya Natsuki lived in, along with their senior Mikaze. She knocked at the door with urgent but delicate bangs, hoping that they were inside. "Who is it?" asked a voice whom the rose-haired composer knew all too well.

"It's Nanami Haruka! I need you guys to come with me because Saotome wants us to come outside!" she exclaimed in response. The door swung open, and out came Natsuki and Syo.

Syo groaned. "I wonder what he wants now."

"Maybe it's something important, Syo-chan," Natsuki suggested in hopes that it would lighten up the smaller blonde's mood.

The blue-eyed boy just shrugged with a tired face; they headed to get the rest of the group. Mikaze wasn't in their room, so they moved on to Aijima Cecil's room where he and Camus were assumedly at.

Gathering them along, the two men left to meet them outside. Syo and Natsuki still stayed at Nanami's side, rushing to Ittoki Otoya and Ichinose Tokiya's room, with their senior Reiji conveniently inside.

Ranmaru and his juniors were outside, waiting as well with Mikaze in tow. Nanami and her company heard the helicopter whirring and the loud, booming laugh Saotome had. They all dashed outside and to everyone's surprise, Saotome was holding firmly onto a squirming rag sack. Struggling and shouts were emitting from the bag. When it stopped, it left a dark aura.

Frozen chibi faces.

"Hey! Don't tell me that you kidnapped whoever's inside!" Syo indignantly yelled (and yet he was strangely unsurprised at Saotome's action).

"What are you saying, _Mistar_ Kurusu?" Saotome chuckled loudly. "I'm just dropping off a package! Your vacation is cut short due to necessities and life, and so this package is given to you early! Say hello to your harsh critic, _Hirano Aoi_!"

He dropped to the ground with a thud, his feet planted onto the ground. He slumped the sack and the body inside wriggled relentlessly. "This is _not_ how you treat new employees," warned the sack. "Get me out."

"I'll let the others take care of that," Shining replied with a snicker, frolicking around the bag. "It looks like my own time is cut short. She will be both of your critic and co-composer for STARISH and QUARTET NIGHT, right _Miz_ Hirano Aoi?"

The sack stirred._ Hirano Aoi,_ the sack narrowly thought. _I need to remember that._

"Critic?"

"Co-composer?"

The words echoed. Everyone stumped on Saotome's words, as he waved goodbye and held onto the floating ladder reaching up from the hovering helicopter. The helicopter then flew off, and the headmaster of the high-class music academy was out of sight.

The people then turned to the bag, which didn't move anymore. Haruka was the first to rush to the bag, untying it. She gasped at the sight.

_Blue hair?_

"Are you okay?" she asked as she held out a hand for the girl to grab on to.

The girl stood up without the redhead's help, her mouth drawing a thin line in annoyance, as she dusted off her gray jeans. "I thank you for your consideration, but there's no need for that," the stuffed girl said, fixing the hoodie on her head. Black gloves adorned her hands, with a variety of necklaces around her collar. What was mostly distinctive about her character was her hair and her dark tinted sunglasses resting on her nose, her identity basically covered.

"So, your name is Hirano Aoi-san?" Nanami asked with a sweet relieved smile plastered on her face.

"Yeah, Hitomi," Hirano replied, which made the girl blink.

"H-Hitomi?" Of course, Hitomi could be a name that meant 'beautiful-eyed,' which in Nanami's appearance seemed fit. Since then, Hirano had called Haruka 'Hitomi' because of her mysterious yet bright eyes that seemed to reflect off her innocent thoughts.

Hirano nodded. "'Hitomi Izumi' is my name for you, since your eyes reflect a fountain," she said with a confirmed expression. The boys in the background seemed lost in the dust, watching the two already conversing about something somewhat friendly yet not understandable in the slightest.

Once she named the girl based off her first impression, her face ran cold and turned her attention to the boys. "My name is Hirano Aoi," she addressed them with a monotonous tone. "Shining wasn't very specific as to who I am. Disgusting man."

"Huh?"

Hirano ignored their breath of confusion. "Shuffling me into an uncomfortable sack was inconvenient and unreasonable. But other than that, I hope we keep things professional and cooperative." She adjusted her glasses and huffed, "Anyway. I will be your critic, and Saotome was right for saying that I won't be nice about it. I will also be co-composing with Hitomi once I relearn how to play my past instruments. Lastly, Saotome wishes for me to take turns in everyone's bedroom, starting with Mikaze Ai and co. I wouldn't question why if I were you... once again, that man is just, well."

All that was heard after that was her boots clanking, heading inside the building. "Oh, and," she halted, looking over her shoulder, "I'd like some time to myself. I'll be in the nearest living room, so I ask of you but one thing. _Don't disturb me._"

Hirano was gone with the wind. Everyone's faces faded to fifty shades of grey.

Reiji burst out laughing, and that was all that was heard afterwards until everyone else's voices began working again, as if they've just been choked.

"She's obviously a woman dwelling only on words to look threatening," Ren noted while smirking, though he appeared breathless. "Young lady's very - interesting."

"But... isn't Hirano-san strange? I mean, I've never met anyone like her," Ittoki added with a frown. "Why would she want to act mean when she obviously doesn't look like the kind? She's just - what's the word - oh, I don't _know."_

Cecil entered the conversation, managing to say, "Aoi-chan's unstable. Either that, or she doesn't like us. But... why?"

"From the looks of it, she knows about your uncanny ability to know someone's personality from their eyes," Masato commented, referring to when Cecil did that with the STARISH members. That triggered everyone to thinking about her glasses.

"Could it be the glasses are just for style, or that Hira-chan has something on her face?" Natsuki questioned, attempting for the mystery to be logically solved.

Syo shook his head deliberately. "No, she's definitely onto us, whatever it is."

"She's just anti-social. There's nothing overly odd about that," Tokiya deadpanned, "so stop it with this pointless topic. Her case is just barely normal and let's just hope that her personality won't be much of a problem with our everyday life."

Nanami looked over at the pop stars, frowning at this. "Ichinose-san's… _somewhat_ right. She's probably just nervous so let's give her a good time and make her smile," she added while beaming herself.

This caused the STARISH boys to lighten their hearts. "Haru-chan's right," Shinomiya agreed with a wide grin, "though we can't talk to her anytime soon..."

Reiji continued laughing hard in the background - at what, no one really bothered to continuously wonder - causing Nanami and the boys to turn their attention to the Pioneer Prince. "You guys are too funny!" he chuckled while clutching his sides. "She can't be so serious with that _cute face._"

Camus cut in, "Fool, don't give them a risky idea. Mikaze, do you know anything?"

"According to my research," Ai responded instantly, "Hirano's hair color is light blue, her eye color is seen by witnesses as either orange, green, or yellow - "

Reiji chortled, "Are witnesses high on something to see _those many colors_ \- "

" - her height is 158 cm, and her age is seventeen. Her background and history are unknown, her birthdate is unknown, and so are her tendencies. However…" he trailed off, slowly shutting his mouth.

"However what?" Ranmaru grunted, his body tingling to leave. "I'm not getting any younger here."

Mikaze's eyes wavered, replying, "Her hands are seemingly gloved to hide her deep scars on her skin, according to eyewitnesses. However, it could be discoloration."

"Does your source say if that was from abuse?" Camus asked.

"No, it doesn't," the levelheaded boy answered. "She's now my new test subject of the matter. I'll be sure to tell you if I have a confirmed answer." With that, he sought his chance to leave.

"Ai-Ai! Where are you going?" Kotobuki called out.

"To my room," he swiftly replied, walking faster inside.

"I'm leaving as well," Masato said after a long period of silence. One by one, the boys left, leaving Haruka staring at the sack.

The rose-haired woman mumbled, "Hirano-san left something…" She picked up an orange bottle of pills, with Hirano's name and other medical information on it. "This must be important. I need to give it back to her."

And so Nanami left to go inside, the bottle of pills held gently in her hand.

"Hey, Nanami-san!" Ittoki called, the shorthaired girl stopping to turn her head around. Otoya, the positive super red-haired red-eyed boy was waving at her, running towards her. He tried to smile brightly, about to say something, but instead pointing to her closed hand. "Uh, what's that?"

"Hirano-san left something in the sack she was in," Haruka quickly explained. "I'm going to give it to her now. She said that she would be in the closest living room she would find, and I know where that is - "

"Nanami-san," Ittoki interrupted, causing her to stop in mid-sentence and lift her head up to him. "I don't think she wants to be bothered..." His body was anxious and jumpy, which the girl easily noticed.

Nanami's eyes faltered, but she kept her lips curled upward. She rubbed her arm and said, "I know you're worried that I might get hurt, but she's as much of a girl as I am. I don't think she'll hurt me."

"I suggest that I come with you," the redhead insisted.

_That's not necessary,_ thought Haruka, but didn't say aloud. She merely shook her head and walked to the door where she felt in her gut that Hirano was in.

She knocked on the door quietly, and she heard the sound of a sigh. Hirano huffed on the other side, glancing at the door before standing up from the light green couch chair and pulling the doorknob downward.

Hirano blinked through her sunglasses. It was then that Haruka realized that she was the exact same height as she was. "Hitomi Izumi? The likes of you attempting to stand up to me after what I said…" Her words wandered off into the distance, leaving the two in an uncomfortable silence.

"I came here to give you something you accidentally dropped," Haruka muttered frankly as she held the familiar white-capped bottle out to her.

Hirano Aoi immediately grabbed the object from the pale-skinned girl's hand. "You shouldn't have seen this," she mumbled. She tapped the hard plastic, hearing the sound echo through the silent hall. "Well, now you know one."

"One what?" Haruka repeated dubiously with innocent eyes.

"You see, I have many secrets," Hirano whispered, leaning in closer, "and you just found out one. Every time you learn a secret, you figure out the real puzzle." A corner of the blue-haired girl's mouth curled upward, and she stepped back.

"_I'll be looking forward for you to figure out what's laid out in front of you._"

"Nanami-san!" Otoya cried through the hallway. "Don't open the—ah, Hirano-san…"

Hirano sighed silently. "Thank you for giving me this, Nanami Haruka," she thanked before shutting the door promptly in front of the orange-haired girl's nose. She rubbed the tender spot, turning around to face Otoya.

"She wasn't bad at all," she remarked in front of the scarlet-haired boy, who stared at her blankly. "She was actually very kind. She just needs to trust us… that's all."

_I wonder what that secret thing Hirano-san was talking about_, Haruka thought with a troubled look. _Hirano-san's sick…she needs someone to watch over her, to take care of her._

She lifted her head to bear her orangish yellow-green eyes at Ittoki. "Ittoki-kun, we must take care of Hirano-san. She's sick, but insists that she takes care of it herself. I just can't watch her push us away like this."

Ittoki stared at the door. "Who is Hirano-san?" he mumbled, ruffling his flyaway, tousled red locks. They both turned to the door, their eyes full of curiosity and concern at who Hirano was.

* * *

**Originally Written: February 24, 2014**

**Updated: May 10, 2016**


	2. Constructive Criticism

**Mia: Hmn...I think that I may have to kick it up a notch...however, thanks to those who took the time to read this and favorite/follow! Reviews are inspiring, though.**

**I don't own UtaPri, but own my OC Hirano Aoi. :)**

* * *

Chapter Two: Constructive Criticism

Hirano had stared at her glass filled with water. She was alone in the living room, no one daring to bother her. Her stiff shoulders relaxed, as she reached out for the glass.

A loud thud was heard, shaking the cup before the blue-haired girl could touch the cold glass. She twitched at the sudden movement, watching the water ripple from above. "What was that?" she muttered as her multi-colored eyes flung up and her head craned to the left. Her senses told her that it came from that direction, though she paid no further attention to the brief incident and grasped the glass of water.

She reached it up to her lips, and took a sip, then a large gulp. She almost choked, for at that moment blood was clotting her throat. So with swift movements, she rapidly shoved the pill in her mouth and swallowed it all in.

Aoi narrowed her eyes at the glass, with its water tinted red from the blood. "I should get more a more updated prescription," she mentioned to herself as a reminder to do sooner or later.

She stood up, grabbing the glass and pouring the liquid into a potted plant. She was getting hot so she pulled the hoodie off of her warm head and adjusted her glasses. The bottle of pills was thrust in her jacket pocket, and she made sure that it stayed secure so that it wouldn't fall off a second time.

An hour had passed. Hirano had used that peaceful amount of time to read books and research on STARISH and QUARTET NIGHT, and even had time to search up HEAVENS. The interested girl had organized the information in a locked file. She closed her personal laptop and used a bag Saotome gave her to place her belongings in it.

Aoi had known that she would have to watch the singers' performances sooner or later, and so she decided that getting it over with was her best choice to do with her slow time.

And so Hirano walked out of the room, attempting to find her way to her room shared with three other boys to her discomfort. Out of all people, Saotome hadn't allowed the girl to share a spacious room with Nanami. She was a girl, and they had the space, so why couldn't she just sleep in there as long as she was working alongside with her instead of taking turns with the _boys_?

It was too irrational for the girl to comprehend. "Saotome Shining, you are too confusing," she mumbled with an exasperated sigh.

Aoi had passed by the other rooms that were labeled, purposefully dropping notes to meet her somewhere in the building.

Finally, she had found the room, and opened the door. All three roommates were in there, turning their heads to blink at her presence. Aoi gulped down her bile and blood, watching them witness her every move. "I'm just placing my things here," she told them as she walked to a corner of the room. She carefully placed the laptop bag on the corner, pulling out a compacted fence that she stretched out and placed over it protectively.

"What are you doing, Hira-chan?" Natsuki asked, his head leaning towards her.

Aoi turned around, annoyed by the blonde's curiosity but secretly admiring his positive stance. "Fencing my belongings so that no one tries to get it," she stoically replied. "If you ever try, the fence would send signals to my phone. If you break it, the same would be done to you."

"Hey, do you have any clothes in there?" Syo asked while lying down casually in the top bunk of the bed.

Aoi stiffened at this. Hesitantly, she responded, "I only had time to pack a pair of nightwear and some undergarments. I'll shop when I find the time." Her mouth drew a thin line, uncomfortable of the question but answering it anyway. She wondered why she had.

Mikaze watched her every action, from her expressions to her movements. He took note of her uncertain and her annoyed look, storing that in his head to think about when he conversed with her.

"I'll be critiquing your performances in ten minutes, so I'll be meeting all of you in Music Room A7," Hirano spoke as she checked in her bag for all of her possessions.

In truth, Aoi hid and masked practically _everything_ she did. She was very wary of them, but wished to become close friends with them. She had thought so farfetched, to her disliking.

She drew out a notepad and pen, pushing the pen in her…bare ear. "Hey, now that I think about it, your hoodie's off," Syo remarked. Aoi twitched at that, precipitously hovering the hood over her head.

"If you speak a word about this to anyone, you'd be dead before you even open your mouth again to say _anything_," Hirano muttered darkly, stressing the last word out. She strode to the door and headed out.

Shinomiya pitied the girl. "Hira-chan," he mumbled sadly as the blue tips of the girl's hair vanished. "She acts as if she can't trust anyone."

"You got that right," Syo agreed with his eyes constricted. "What about you?" The two juniors turned to the cyan-haired boy, who looked away from them.

"The test subject's continuing to do the unexpected," Mikaze replied. "Trusting people are apparently not a concern to her. She's just here to do her job."

"But…I can't help but feel that something's off about her," Natsuki thought aloud.

Syo scoffed. "Everything's off about her. However, I think I know what you're saying. Hirano's just…something sticks out. As if it has something to do with Nanami…" Kurusu somehow felt the same way. He couldn't put his thoughts into words without it making sense, which frustrated him.

Ai had pretended to not care about their conversation, but couldn't help but think about the girl, wondering how she's related to Nanami. _Why did they refer to the composer? _Mikaze wondered. _What relation could she be with Hirano Aoi?_

Ai frowned at how much of a challenge this girl alone is. He still remembered the way the sack stirred when Shining Saotome had called her name for the first time. It was as if that wasn't her name…

"Oi, Mister Senior," Syo called, snapping the boy's processing mind. "We got to meet up with Hirano."

Ai nodded, shaking his thoughts purposefully and walking out of the room with the juniors. Although, during the entire walk there, he had thought of what that girl was possibly trying to hide in that bag. If she surrounded it with a fence, he wondered if something secret was in there.

How he wished to know.

Before they entered, they heard the piano playing. It was slow and elegant, as if the listener was in a dream. Mikaze's eyes shot up, his ear unconsciously pressing through the door.

Hirano felt the keys were familiar. The sixteen-year-old hadn't played it for three years, but then she remembered how free she felt playing it. She instantly stopped when she sensed the door open.

She stood up rapidly, causing the music sheets she pulled out to float to the ground. "Oh, you're here already," she said as her brows crossed. Aoi picked up the flying papers and tried to organize them, while Natsuki clapped.

"That was so good!" Shinomiya exclaimed, grinning kindly at the blue-haired woman.

"Yeah, I thought that you didn't know how to play," Syo added with a smile on his face himself.

Aoi's eyes widened at their words, left speechless. "That…stop," she directed in embarrassment. "Forget that you ever heard it."

"Then you shouldn't have played it very loudly, or at all," Mikaze pointed out, causing the girl to slam her hand on the top of the piano. Syo and Natsuki hugged each other at the sudden action, then immediately repulsed from each other in disgust (or at least Syo did, Natsuki just kept clinging on).

The door swung open once again, revealing the others. "We saw your note," Reiji said with a laugh. "Your handwriting's really beautiful."

"That's enough," Hirano dismissed crossly. "We're here for me to tell you what I think about your performances. I'll also be watching your lyrics, timing, dance routine, emotion, and more. Be mindful that I will be bluntly honest, and hope that all of you can take in constructive criticism well."

"Now there's a serious person here," Kurosaki muttered, slightly in admiration. Reiji, next to the white-haired man, tilted his head at his words. He noticed the sliver of admiration, smiling at how the girl managed to already impress Ran-Ran.

Hirano continued, "Now, I will be first hearing QUARTET NIGHT's "Powazon Kiss. Kotobuki Reiji, Mikaze Ai, Kurosaki Ranmaru, and Camus…please perform for me." She sighed shortly, pulling out her pen behind her ear and her notepad to note what flaws she distinctively found.

The four boys stood in front of her, ready for Nanami to press play on the radio. They stood in their positions, and the music started. Her bold pen grazed onto the paper in curvy symmetrical lines and dots, forming the following words of their performance, excluding her personal thoughts. The words weighed more on the facts.

QUARTET NIGHT: Powazon Kiss

Romanji Version (NOT Kanji or Translation English)**:**

**Ｒ****：** Give In To Temptation

**Ａ****：** My Promise To You

**Ｒ****：** I'll Rock You Hard

**Ｃ****：** With My Deep Emotion

**Ｒ****：** Koe o kikasete**—hand motion against body from hat to waist**

**Ｒ****：** Kami o nabikase

**Ａ****：** Ah, Lesson Of The Night**—hand motion sliding seductively from waist flinging up to forehead line**

**Ｃ****：** Slowly, Slowly**—waving hand as if wading in water**

**Ｒ****：** Yasashii hidarite

**Ｒ****：** Karamaru migite

**Ａ****：** Ai you yukiba wo

**Ｃ****：** Sagashite

**Ｒ****：** Tokei wa hora mienai furishite**—Walking up, his face leaned near mine with an alluring yet energetic smile. Our noses almost touched…too close**

**Ｒ****：** Tsuite koi yo ari no mama**—As if the background around me blurred into distracting colors at that verse. Ranmaru had walked up behind but didn't do anything disturbing to my taste**

**Ａ****：** Mune ni mimi wo atete mina yo**—Mikaze walked up as well, singing while pressing his ear on my chest. I could've blushed at that perverted move he swept at me, but I did notice from the touch that he…never mind that**

**Ｃ****：** Omae to no kyori ni kodou ga**—Thankfully, he killed that verse without stepping too forward. At least one member of this boy band is aware of space**

**All****：** Feeling, Feeling, Feeling, Ah…

**All****：** Kuruwasetai POWAZON KISS

**Ｒ****：** Rocking Hard, Rocking Hard**—It was then I saw his rock side…**

**All****：** Torokete POWAZON KISS

**Ｒ****：** More And More, And**—His hand movements motioning for me to come to him was done considerably well**

**Ｒ****・****Ｒ****・****Ｃ****：** Towa ni POWAZON KISS (Ah…)

**Ａ****：** Kokoro mo mama

**All****：** ataeyou POWAZON KISS

**Ｃ****：** Love o kanjiro**—Solo verse…I'm assuming that they'd overlap**

**Ｒ****・****Ｃ****：** Love ni moero**—I'm not surprised that I was right from my last note**

**Ｒ****・****Ａ****・****Ｃ****：** Love o shinjiro**—Oh? Ai's voice had been added to the verse. I had assumed for Reiji to, since his voice register is lower that Mikaze's**

**All****：** Love Is All! QUARTET NIGHT**—Kotobuki strained and barely made that verse. However, it's considerably impressive and the tying lyrics in the end are very well done. The last dance move of the routine with their arm up is perfect for the ending. However…one word for this is unemotional. It didn't affect me whatsoever therefore it failed**

The music ran to a stop, the music dimming in the background. Hirano had written down of her thoughts, and then spoke up. "One word to describe this song: _emotionless_. The music and lyrics are filled with love and desperateness, yet lacks feeling."

The room was struck dumb at her words. Aoi cleared her throat before continuing. "Let's start with Kotobuki Reiji. I overall would think that people who like catchy songs would certainly like this. You have shown enthusiasm and uniqueness throughout the entire song, giving your personality. However, it's not very appropriate, for the song type is more serious and temptation for love, not giddy and happy," she sternly spoke.

"Kurosaki Ranmaru, your voice would sound fit for music like this, but you're singing for no one. Your voice is too aggressive, as if you hate love and therefore the song's lyrics meant nothing to you.

Mikaze Ai, your singing voice is very ranged, driven and high, but is almost robotic. No feelings at all conveyed in the music. Reiji felt content, and Ranmaru felt hatred, while you…sounded like you don't convey any feelings.

Last but not least, Camus. Your voice is very low and smooth, like a river stone. It sounds as if love is something different to you though. You have nobody to sing this song to because you don't have the heart or feeling.

Overall, it was more like rhapsody, for I didn't feel your pull. The choreography's attractive to many women, I can see, but that's all. The timing and movements match up with the words, which is clever. You switched patterns with each singer, but I think that Reiji was straining to hit the high notes when you four overlapped each other towards the end of the chorus. I would prefer Mikaze Ai and Kotobuki Reiji to switch places there, so that it doesn't sound edgy. However, it feels right considering the mood of the song, so it really depends if that verse would force the voice or not." She wrote more notes onto her notepad, and plopped the pen down.

The room was left speechless. STARISH had absorbed every analyzing word, slightly anxious of how she would think of their own performance, witnessing the harsh tone of Hirano's true criticism.

The Pioneer Princes had thought that Aoi had vanquished them with only words. Nothing can describe their thoughts on her notes, and so Reiji spoke first. "You think that I couldn't hit the high notes?"

"Oh, you certainly have to some extent," Hirano rightfully responded. "Although, seeing Mikaze would be the better fit, I would prefer him over you."

Ai's lips were pressed firmly together, forming a straight line. "Emotionless? My voice is like a robot?"

Aoi nodded profusely. "As if you yourself _are_ a robot. But ah ha, what am I saying?" she laughed lightly, not meaning to laugh at all. Mikaze was taken aback from this joke, taking it seriously and then paying closer attention to the girl.

Camus spoke next. "What am I missing to the song?" he asked.

"Simple—_heart_," Aoi replied, her hand resting on the table. "You have no love life. No lover has entered your heart, which is sad. Without the experience of love, the song isn't complete. Never will unless you find someone."

Camus' blue eyes trailed down. Ichinose's lips parted, remembering how Hyuga Ryuya had told him the same words. He knew that the girl in front of him knew what true music was, and he thought that he might have gotten it.

"Oi, what's the meaning of this?" Kurosaki raged. "What do you mean I'm aggressively despising love?"

"You're showing it right now," Hirano deadpanned. "It's as if you'd rather fall in love with your bass guitar." _How did she know that I play the bass? _Ranmaru wondered in disbelief. _This girl really knows what she's saying._

Despite being bested, Reiji smiled. "You must have past experience with comebacks and observations, huh?"

"Don't change the subject," Hirano quickly ordered, clearing her throat. "Now, STARISH, I haven't heard your song. Either one is fine, whether it's 'Maji Love 1000%' or 'Maji Love 2000%'."

The STARISH group whispered to each other before nodding and turning to the blue head. "We choose 2000%," they replied in sync.

"Wait!" Haruka spoke out of terms. Everyone had turned to her.

"Is there something you'd like to say, Izumi Hitomi?" Hirano inquired with a cocked brow, picking up her pen from her pad.

Nanami stepped a foot towards her. "I was just wondering…have you felt that happy feeling in your heart when STARISH had played at the UtaPri Awards?" she asked timidly.

The room fell silent at this. Hirano's eyes flickered a light for a moment before she laughed. This caught everyone off guard. "D-Did I say something wrong?"

"No, you didn't," Aoi laughed before cutting her fit short and returning to her tedious face. "There's a legend about the 'Happy Pulse' you're speaking of. I witnessed the effects of it all around me, wondering why I'm not glowing a bright pink and feeling like floating up to the skies.

The legend is that a certain song can stimulate the entire world, making everyone's pulse rate shoot up unnaturally. However, one person out of all of those people wouldn't feel the same. Apparently, Saotome had hunted that person down, figuring that it was I. He was correct."

It made sense to everyone. After all, they had thought that there was no need for a critic or another composer when they confirmed that Haruka was the best (at least STARISH and Reiji was convinced). "So you didn't?" Haruka asked with wide eyes and a cracked voice.

"No." The blunt and simple answer was all that was necessary to get the message. Tokiya had narrowed his eyes at her, wondering if what she said was true. Nevertheless, he felt the truth in every word she had spoken since he had met her barely hours ago.

"That's the main reason why I'm here. It also says in the legend that if the same singer/singers create a performance with the happy pulse and manage to get the resister to feel the pulse, then they are undoubtedly the rightful kings of music," she explained. "Saotome wished for me to shape two of his entertaining groups, one of them STARISH, and I chose QUARTET NIGHT. He had also told me to shape another singing boy band for some excitement and competition, and I chose your opponent HEAVENS."

She ended her words with a point to the other group, motioning them to the podium. "Now, setting that aside, I'd like to hear your performance, STARISH."

_Why HEAVENS?_ Ichinose wondered while he and his group walked to certain spots of the small stage. Her pen ink color switched to dark pink in the process.

STARISH: Maji Love 2000%

Romanji Version**:**

**All****：** Nisen PĀ (Hey!) SAIKŌ na LOVE (Get You!)

Hajimaru yo (Jump!) Yes Happy RAIBU/LIFE (Syun, Syun!)

Omatase shimashita, hoshi yo yozora e (We Are STARISH!)**—I can see that several cover up for each other by all holding the note and some switching to the background vocals. How clever**

Ai wa Shooting Star!

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

**Ｎ****：** I Need You S**—Shinomiya Natsuki. Kurusu Syo could've done his verse…**

**Ｔ****：** I Feel You T**—Their arm and partly leg movements match up with the letter**

**Ｃ****：** I Miss You A**—The simple rotation wave doesn't exactly match up with A but very charismatic**

**Ｒ****：** I Kiss You R**—Could he possibly speak of that in front of everyone? Well, if he's all right with it, I cannot make him change his verse…after all, lyrics to partake in the overall feeling felt in the end**

**Ｏ****：** I Believe You I**—His words are predicted with his personality. The way he showed the letter's very compelling as well**

**Ｓ****：** I Hold You S**—He's really cute…I MEANT BABY PUPPY MOE CUTE, YEAH! Ugh, what am I writing here? He tries to look swag but it doesn't rub off no matter how hard he tries. It's too adorable, honestly. I hate it**

**Ｍ****：** I Want You H**—He doesn't look cut off for this stuff. He should just stick to something more of his look…perhaps a scribe or a serious pianist. He does play piano and write with the traditional ink and scroll, or so I've researched**

All： ST RISH Forever!

**Ｒ****：** Konna ni mo hora

**Ｎ****：** Afureteru**—Well that didn't sound attractive at all…I can't believe I wrote sarcasm. In pen too! Natsuki definitely doesn't look like the kind for something so…NOT sexy. I'm so weird trying to deny things that are obviously lies, even written on paper.**

**Ｏ****：** Give Me

**Ｏ****・****Ｎ****・****Ｒ****：** Give Me Your Love. Give Me, Ah**—Oh…wow. The hip thrust and the way their hands contract to their hair so persuasively make me want to barf my blood out**

**Ｓ****：** Sen PĀ dake ja**—His rough and quirky voice doesn't suit his appearance but it makes a tsundere look. And Kurusu is touching Cecil's waist…and Cecil's adjusting Syo's hat…nothing odd, I believe**

**Ｃ****：** Mono tarinai

**Ｓ****・****Ｃ****：** AGEmashou

**All****：** Nisen PĀ LOVE (LOVE!)**—They low-fived each other in a dismissive way to move into a different position**

**Ｔ****：** Kimi ga uta ni

**Ｍ****：** Umarekawaru

**Ｔ****：** Koi wa

**Ｍ****：** BAKUHATSU**—Butt shaking dance…really? Well, at least it's somewhat necessary…**

**Ｍ****・****Ｔ****：** Dance &amp; Dance**—The harmony's beautifully sung and the dance move is less alarming and actually really good**

**Ｔ****：** Kikoemasu?

**Ｏ****：** Hora

**Ｍ****：** Mune no koe

**Ｒ****：** SANKYU/THANK YOU!

**Ｎ****：** Doki, Doki**—How he says it makes it stand out...**

**Ｓ****：** Waku, Waku suru ze!**—Ah, he's such a shota…**

**All****：** We Are ST RISH 3. 2. 1. Let's Go!

**Ｃ****：** Minna de tsunagarou**—good hand coordination for casual emphasis**

**All****：** Nisen PĀ (Hey!) SAIKŌ na LOVE (Get You!)

Kimi to dake (Jump!) Yes! Happy PARUSU/PULSE! (Syun! x2)

Kakumei SUTĀRAITO/STARLIGHT, MAJI de suki da yo (Yes, We Love You!)

Eien ni…

Zenryoku zenkai de, nisen PĀ kimi no koto o Love (You)

Ba, Bang! Ja, Jan! Love You~

Hirano really liked the music, especially how Nanami played it on the piano. She loved the sound of acoustics better than electric rock. However, her position is meant to show an equal amount of flaws and compliments. "I think that your voices are like one…I'm sorry," she apologized while clearing her throat. "It's as if you sing this song to the same person. She must be someone special."

Hijirikawa's eyes lifted up to the girl. Her eyes looked as if she had already known whom it was before they performed. "Your movements were attractive and slick, and your timing is right. I did see minor flaws in individual works though.

Ittoki Otoya, your enthusiasm would lighten up a crowd. People would feel relaxed and upbeat with your music, but you show hints of desperateness as if you were singing it to a specific girl in hopes that she would feel the same way.

Ichinose Tokiya, I wonder why you're so quiet in 'I feel you.' You have also whispered in 'Maji Love 1000%' when I think about it. It makes me feel like you don't love your fans and only sing to impress a certain girl.

Aijima Cecile, your dancing was slightly off at some parts in the chorus. Jingugi Ren was super smooth in his movements, while Shinomiya Natsuki sounded very different than his look in my opinion. Hijirikawa Masato doesn't look like the kind to be in such a boy band, but his voice fits the group nonetheless. And Kurusu Syo…don't be offended, but that 'we're so excited' verse threw me off, and I'm hoping it's not from moe." Moe meant 'cuteness,' which made Syo avert his gaze with a flustered look.

"All of you showed nervousness throughout the entire song, assumingly because of my last words to 'Powazon Kiss,' but they were emotionless. All of you love the same girl, therefore work together well as one. It's a reverse harem in reality…anyway, overall, the teamwork is well done, the mirroring movements are decent, but it did not speak to me. I'm sorry, but you're just halfway in experience, which is considered quick from how long you've been artists."

The entire time, Nanami from the piano seat had mentally taken note of what Hirano said, repeating the corrections in her head to remember at all times. She had truly admired Aoi's honest thoughts, not just complimenting them but actually taking the time to point out some minor flaws and details, from looks to actions to lyrics.

"As for you, Izumi Hitomi, I thoroughly liked your composing and piano playing. I'll make sure to find time to work alongside with you," Hirano added.

Nanami nodded copiously. "Thank you for telling me your honest opinions and thoughts!" she exclaimed with a bow.

Aoi blinked, looking away. "It's just my job," she strictly reminded her.

"Whether or not it is your job, you're naturally born to do it!"

"Stop!" Aoi yelled, clenching her fists. "I…I need some fresh air. It's too hot in here." She stomped out, her face buried in her hood.

* * *

**Mia: I found Aoi's character strange while writing, er, typing this...maybe because she seemed bi-polar or something. XP**

**Anyway, I hope to see at least one review! I wanna feel happy doing this, and one would be enough really! :)**

**Syo: Can I just ask...why do you think that I'm a shota?!**

**Mia: Hey, Hirano said it, not me. *raises arms up in defense***

**Hirano: Wait, no no no, _you_ said that, not me. You made me say it in the story, so don't be dumb and put the blame on me.**

**Mia: *huffs* Fine, whateva you say...mkay, looking forward for at least 1 REVIEW! I really am sad for not even one... *sobs silently***

**Hirano: You're not silently sobbing, Ichinose can hear it from his room... *deadpans* Thanks for reading?**


	3. Similar Appearances

**Mia: Aw, I was touched that there were people actually reading this crud! I'll be posting a new fanfic sometime soon that I hope that some will like, aha. ;)**

**I wish I owned UtaPri...but knowing about it is enough for me!**

* * *

Chapter 3: Similar Appearances

Nanami wondered if she said something wrong once again with a blank expression. "As usual, she doesn't seem to take in compliments well," Mikaze noted. Camus' head cocked to see the younger boy while pursing his lips. He was right—Hirano had problems accepting respects.

"I believe the reason why she does this is so that no one bothers her," Cecile thought aloud. Everyone in the room but Natsuki nodded their heads in agreement.

Shinomiya had dismissed himself to speak with her and somehow comfort her with a teddy bear or his chick Piyo-chan. No matter how many times the others (especially Kurusu) disapproved of the idea, he just left without regarding any of their protests.

He skipped to his shared room and notified Hirano that he was there by swinging the door open and squealing, "I'm home! Hira-chan, hello!"

Natsuki beamed at her. Aoi's head slowly lifted up from sitting in the corner, staring at his green orbs without any emotion. "I'm tired, so please do your business here and leave, or just be quiet."

The blonde laughed quietly. "You remind me of Alice, you know."

Her eyes slowly filled with annoyed emotion. "Is Alice your cat?" she asked.

"Yeah!" he chirped, not wondering how she knew at all. "Quiet, resisting against me…but overall, a loyal cat. She's a lot like you, like a tsundere!"

Hirano blinked. "A tsundere? You mean a cold, hostile person that gradually warms up to a person over time kind of tsundere? Oh no, you're very wrong." _Maybe a kuudere, but never a tsundere._

Kuuderes are hostile but blunt and shows their warming up in quiet ways instead of resulting in anger like tsunderes. They also aren't dandere who show their affection with shyness or yandere with a violent and psychotic way of showing straightforward affection.

She was definitely not yandere or dandere…she was wondering what the heck she was thinking. She's not any of them and never would be!

"Well I think I'm right," Natsuki said in a lower voice as he walked closer and kneeled down to her eye level. His head leaned forward, closer to her face. "Such a clever cat, making me want to hug you like that."

His hands tingled to embrace the small frame, ending up pressing his hands to the wall around the girl. This caged Hirano. "Do you realize what position we're in?" she inquired with an arched brow, keeping her calm at its best.

Natsuki was still in his trance, seeing a cat instead of a girl. "Must…" He mumbled with yearn, itching to hug her. Eventually, to both of their surprise, Aoi leaned forward to press her head gently on Shinomiya's chest. "…What?"

"If you mention this to _anyone_…" Her face faltered, pulling back to place a hand on the spot her head was. "You were warm. Wait…what am I saying? Get off!" She pushed the placed hand with force on Natsuki's chest, making him tumble backward. She stood up in disgust, standing up to sit on Mikaze's bed on his side of the room.

While Natsuki fell back, his glasses had fallen off. He was silent, which almost relieved the girl if she hadn't been 'interested' in the researched Satsuki, the other half of his personality who was aggressive and harmful. She noticed his personality change in magazines and articles with his glasses off, assuming the things in her head.

"Oh ho…so _you're_ the girl who tried to hurt my innocence?" he lowly asked with a grim sneer. "Well, now you'll get a taste of your own dose."

Hirano gulped hard. His glasses were too far behind Satsuki, and that could give him the advantage of clutching her wrist. She wasn't going to take that chance, though the other way would be equally risky.

She held her breath, hoping that no one would see her eyes as she yanked her dark-tinted sunglasses off and forced them to rest on his nose with her head turned away. Satsuki had diminished from the blonde, leaving a confused Natsuki. "Eh? What happened? Oh, Hira-chan!" he exclaimed with a bubbly look, leaning forward to squeeze the girl into a hug.

She sighed, allowing the moment to pass for the shaky moment only seconds ago almost scared her. Aoi then realized that Shinomiya hadn't really looked at her eyes yet.

Comprehending that she could just hide behind her large hood, she drew away and pulled the hood down, the cords shortening from the stretch. "Your glasses fell, so I gave you mine," Hirano informed him, as he plucked the lenses from the ground and was about to take off his sunglasses before the shorter girl ran towards him and quickly made the switch.

To her relief, Natsuki just blinked and smiled. "Thank you, Hira-chan," he thanked sincerely. "You're actually really kind!"

"Say that again and I'll slit your throat," she warned with the nail of her finger on his neck, returning to her normal stance. However, somehow her hoodie wasn't enough and Shinomiya lowered his body to get a better perspective.

"Hey…I think I can see your eyes," he slurred as he leaned his head forward and pinched a corner of her hoodie, reeling it off. He mechanically stepped back, doing a double take on what he saw. "…Haru-chan?"

"H-Haru-chan?" she stammered, taken aback.

"Your eyes! They look exactly like Haru-chan's!" he repeated, pointing accusingly at the blue-haired woman.

Hirano's eyes were the exact same shade as Haruka's, from the yellowish orange iris to the green pupil. Without a word and her head hung low, Hirano shielded her eyes with her shifted blue bangs and grabbed the sunglasses from Natsuki's hand. She pushed it up the bridge of her nose, without any word coming from her mouth.

"Do they?" she muttered as she tugged on the jacket chords habitually. "Well, now there are two."

Shinomiya stared curiously at the girl. "If you're ever so curious, speak of this 'moment' with Izumi Hitomi."

"You mean Haru-chan?" he asked, earning a nod from her. He was still trying to get used to her address to Haruka, going so far as to repeat the name several times in his head.

"She might tell you a thing or two," she added to what she said before.

And with that, Aoi walked to her bag, heaving out her laptop and a pair of white headphones. She sat in front of Mikaze's white neat table, plopping her silver laptop down and flipping the cover up.

She clicked on several things—her music playlist, a music software for synthesizing, her locked information, and a recovered website she was gathering info from. Aoi plugged in her headphones, listening to a certain song. "Don't bother me anymore," she ordered him, pointing to the line Mikaze made long ago that separated Syo and Natsuki from him.

Shinomiya frowned sadly. "Can I just give you one thing?" he asked with hints of pleading in his tone. Aoi groaned to no avail, waving a hand that said, 'I don't care.'

He tried to smile, as he hopped on his bed with many stuffed animals on it, removing one of his chick Piyo-chans. He hid a disk in there, hoping that Aoi would notice it, and so he strode to her side and gave it to her. "Here you go! Something that might cheer you up on any day!" he exclaimed.

Hirano blushed madly once she looked up unfavorably at him, covering her eyes from the yellow thing. She was prone to one weakness—cuteness. She intended to avoid Syo, and had no idea what she'd do with HEAVEN's Mikado Nagi, but she knew Piyo-chan all too well. She had tried her very best to avoid it at all costs, but seeing it in front of her just got her defeated.

"Moe…"

Natsuki cocked his head. "Moe?"

"Get…Get that _away_ from me!" she screeched, burying her head in her shoulders rested on the table. "I can't handle that! It's just…"

"Just what?"

"Way too cute!" she screamed, with a hand unconsciously lifting up to blindly snatch the stuffed chick.

Natsuki widened his eyes, realizing that Hirano had a soft spot for cute things like him. "Oh, so you like cute things?" he asked excitedly.

"No, I hate them! They show weakness!" she cried in reply. Shinomiya laughed at her state, making kissing noises with Piyo-chan that probed the girl's head.

Hirano had enough. She looked up, facing Piyo-chan, and seized it with much strength. She was about to tear its head off its body, earning a gasp from Natsuki, but couldn't when she saw its eyeballs. "Ugh..." She dawdled off, staring into Piyo's beady black eyes. She then noticed something plastic sticking out of its pocket, pulling it off and finding a CD.

_What's this? _Hirano mentally questioned herself as she read the black ink on the cover. It read, 'Maji Love 1000%.' "I'm assuming that you want me to listen to this," she spoke aloud.

Natsuki nodded nervously. "Are you okay with that? I really want to hear your comments on it."

"There was no need for any of that, for I'm…never mind, I have it on my computer," Aoi told him while pausing her current music and taking off her headphones.

"Aw, you are way too cute Hira-chan!" Shinomiya squealed while suffocating the girl in a death hug. _G-Get off! _Hirano thought rashly but couldn't say it for she was trying to keep in her precious oxygen. She tried to kick his sausage, but ended up tripping in the process, landing on her back.

The position could drive anyone cagey, as Natsuki's hands were confined just next to Aoi's shoulders, his right knee in between her slender legs. No matter how much she could squirm, no progress would be made so she saved her energy.

Shinomiya's glasses were drooping off his nose, which caught her shock and so she used a thumb to press it back, her other fingers on his cheek.

The door clicked and in came a tired Syo who almost bled his nose at what he saw. Natsuki was 'on top' while Aoi was 'holding his cheek.'

"I didn't see anything!" he indignantly yelled while covering his 'virgin' eyes, his face in such a deep crimson that Hirano pushed the blonde off and screamed in fury.

"You people misunderstand everything!" she shouted with a noticeable red vein popping out hotly. "Shinomiya Natsuki just freaking hugged me to death and so I tripped and we fell into this position! His glasses were falling off and had already fallen off once in front of me and it was like hell, and I freaking—"

Shinomiya covered her mouth with his hand, laughing, "It's okay, you were just helping out Hira-chan!" He completely misread the situation at hand, which caused Hirano and Kurusu to deadpan. "It was my fault anyway! She was just super duper cute!" He was in complete moe, with his eyes twinkling unnaturally and his body swishing like jelly.

Syo exhaled. "Okay, that's a relief," he said.

"What do you mean by that?" Hirano vehemently asked. He suddenly got uneasy and waved his hands around, crossing his arms which meant, 'Nothing, it's nothing!'

"Honestly, boys…they don't grow up until they're twenty-five. Then they get immature at around fifty again," Hirano muttered with a smack of her head as she sat back down and started typing. She placed the headphones in her ears and started playing a song.

Syo dragged Natsuki to the bed, insisting that he took a nap, which didn't bother the blue-haired girl much since she was too engrossed in what she was doing. She had found more material about Satsuki and Syo, and filed that in her word document.

Hirano then searched for more information about Nanami Haruka, satisfying her mind as she saved that file and closed it with the usual password to lock. Her head unintentionally bobbed up and down at the beat. "Hey, I can sort of hear the song," Syo commented, breaking the girl out of her rhythm.

"What about it?" she spitefully questioned.

"What's the song?"

Aoi wasn't really sure how to answer, but had anyway. "Ichinose Tokiya, 'Nanairo no Compass.' I must familiarize myself in the preferred type of music of all of you," she replied, her tense muscles relaxing at the casual topic. "His music is definitely slow and steady yet rock and clever on the lyrics. I'll make sure to sleep in his room to speak of the matter and request a song from him."

She typed some notes on the song, smiling triumphantly when she was finished. "You have a nice smile, Hira-chan!" Natsuki complimented while lying on his stomach on his bed, his elbows on the edge and his hands on his cheeks. Hirano blushed and averted her gaze.

"Please don't say that again," she mumbled.

_She said please instead of commanding us, _Syo thought, wondering if she was opening up to them.

The only sounds in the room were the sound of the computer's keys being pressed and the clicking of the mouse board. Hirano had looked up more of HEAVENS, listening to their songs. _Very similar yet different from STARISH, _Hirano thought while typing up notes to remember about that boy band.

She then listened to other individual songs, like Mikaze's 'Trans Winter' and Ittoki's 'Brand New Melody.' With some extra time since it wasn't even six, she started composing a song on her synthesizer.

Aoi had finished critiquing a song from Kurosaki, partly disliking it because it was too loud and obnoxious and because he clearly showed his wretched yet lonely nature while singing in the song. She couldn't help but pity the whitehead, which blemished her callous record of showing no mercy whatsoever.

Ai had entered the room, staring at the girl aloofly at what side of the room she was in (which was his). "You're siding with the juniors," he soullessly stated.

"And who voted on that?" she inquired, earning more than one stare. Syo had figured that she would snap back like that, but hadn't realized that she held more power since she was a girl. Not that he'd known at all, since he didn't learn from them but assumed from watching movies.

"I'm the senior, and you're new, so I would like you to move your things over there," he demanded in an unwavering tone.

"Listen Mikaze Ai, I don't take orders from you, much less from anyone but myself," Aoi said while slowly lifting her headphones off of her ears. She stood up and walked where the cyan-haired boy stood. "If you think that you can just command a girl to sleep in an already-crowded side of the room, you thought _wrong._ Now, if you don't like me sleeping on your side, that's your problem, and it's not like I want to sleep in a room shared with men, I was _forced to._ If I had a choice, do you think I'd sleep in the same room with the likes of you?"

She poked his chest in a manner of 'Watch it or else you're sleeping outside.' Mikaze noted the actions and tone of voice in his computer-like brain, storing it in Hirano's tendencies. "Girls don't reign supreme."

"They do now!" Hirano exclaimed while shoving the boy in the bathroom that was in the room and stuck her foot in the door. Natsuki and Syo watched how she handled the composed boy in partial fear. "Now, if you apologize in the next ten seconds, I might just let you out. If not, I'll keep my shoe on the door tonight as punishment."

The door was silent for a moment before Mikaze apologized. _I can't believe he just did that, _Kurusu thought with a twitch of the eye. "Right choice," she remarked with a smirk as she let him out and sat back down on his side of the room behind her small laptop.

Mikaze honestly had no words of the girl. Quiet yet loud, anti-social yet can handle people well, utterly stupid yet cleverly smart…it couldn't be processed by anyone—not even computers. It would just fry the comprehension out of it.

_She has two personalities, _all three boys concluded in their heads with a mental nod. "Why are you all staring at me like that? I'm a girl, and you're guys, so the way you're looking at me isn't unsuspicious, you know."

On sync, they all looked away. _She may look like a human girl, but she's an alien, _they all thought in unison, as the rational had attempted to read the girl's movements and thoughts and failed.

* * *

**Mia: Grgh...losing...my brain! Lolol, jk.**

**Review? :3**


	4. Reckless Night

**Mia: Thanks for those who reviewed. For Bunny Unnie; Yes, the Great Mikaze Ai apologized.**

**Oh, and just a heads up! I am NOT shipping Ai and Aoi! You'll understand why I said that in the later chapters when it flops to that side. **

**Ittoki: I'm here, everybody!**

**Mia: Spoiler dude, you ain't gonna do that! Go away, shoo!**

**I don't own UtaPri. BROCCOLI and whatnot owns this awesome anime...lucky them.**

* * *

Chapter Four: Reckless Night

It had been several hours, with Mikaze on his computer, Natsuki playing on Piyo-chan's hands, Syo playing a video game on the top bunk, and Hirano in the shower.

It's not like anyone wanted Aoi to use a shower that the boys obviously had used before. It irritated the girl to much extent that she had to use men's shampoo and bar soap (intelligent women would use their heads and know that liquid soap is healthier for body wash). She even had to share the same towel.

_Note to self—get girl shampoo, liquid soap, and a towel that has my name on it in bold, _Hirano thought as she dried herself with a disgusted face. She used the face towel to wipe her hair and face, looking at herself in the misted mirror. Her blue hair was straight and dripping, her eyes shining brilliant hues. She was pretty, but never would ever admit it.

She checked for her nightwear and undergarments and groaned so loudly that she heard Kurusu fall from his bed. _Out of all days, today just had to be the day where I forget my bra!_

She inhaled a deep breath, attempting to diminish her determined anger. Asking one of the boys...she couldn't do it. The only person she could trust at the moment was Haruka. "Um…" She thought of whom she should call to ask Nanami over.

Mikaze was a definite no, for they weren't on friendly terms. Natsuki would undoubtedly help out, but she'd have a high chance that he could accidentally remove his glasses on the simple trip to get the orange-haired girl over.

That left the stylish hat fetish boy.

"Kurusu Syo?" she called out in a questionable way. From the other side, the blonde's heart pounded. What could she want from him? _Am I thinking dirty? _He shook his head pungently, and the thought vanished.

The boy with the red clips on the right side of his head stood up from his cushioned fall (which was a rug) and rubbed his aching shoulder while half-limping to the bathroom door. "Uh, yeah?" he meekly asked.

"I need you boys to get out." Hearing what she just said, she realized that she could just lock the door and get her stuff herself without triggering her alarm from the fence over her bag of belongings. "Yeah, just go if you want to be scarred-free."

"What?" was all he could say, as the girl slammed her fist on the door in reply. He scrambled out of the room, holding onto his hat with his fingers (the nails painted the usual black) and shouting to the other boys, "H-Hirano wants us out!"

Mikaze had understood the words for he felt in his gut that Aoi had forgotten something life-scarring (at least for men it is), while Shinomiya ignored that tingling feeling and confusion was etched on his face. He stood up anyway, and followed Kurusu out of the room, along with Ai not far behind.

When Hirano had safely guessed that they had evacuated, she opened the door with immense caution, peeping through the sliver of a crack. She then flung the door open just enough that she could pass through, and plucked out her needed undergarment, scrabbling back into her private room.

She breathed heavily, not knowing why but at the same time relieved that no one saw her. At least she thought so, not noticing all three boys peeking from the slightly open door that entered the bedroom.

Syo fell on the floor with his face neither pink nor red but purplish blue, looking like his soul left him. Natsuki tried to control his spiking hot temperature flushing his madly reddened face, while Ai had no idea what he should think. After all, he was like a robot that didn't know how to react to women and nudeness. He actually found it quite normal and natural that a girl would forget something she needed to dress up in, and couldn't understand why people of the opposite sex would react in such a way or why she instructed them to leave the room.

Hirano had finally changed with a riled sigh, fixing the bathroom a bit by hanging the towel and organizing the cologne and the nail polish (that Syo had). She figured that she needed to get herself some things as well, several for each room she'd be sleeping in. Then again, she was sharing the same shower with so many boys, so maybe it was a better idea to just use the public women bathroom with the hot pool. She knew that Nanami didn't have a personal bathroom and used the public one, so at least she'd see one familiar face there.

It was better than using a shower an unrelated boy_—_scratch that, any boy had used after all.

Shoving that thought aside, Hirano unlocked the door and noticed the door slightly open. _They didn't close it?_ Her face was slightly shocked, hoping that no one saw her when she was out the time before.

Who was she kidding? It was very likely.

Pushing the door open, the color drained from Aoi's face when she had put two and two together. Syo was on the floor as if he was dead, Natsuki faced the wall when she came out, and Ai was staring at her complexion.

"You didn't," she denied at her best as she walked back in and the slam of the door shook the entire building.

Aoi bit her lip. She really wished to ignore that the boys had seen a part of her no one should see (especially a boy), but she disastrously couldn't. How could any girl ignore something as alarming as that? She face palmed, gulping hard.

Her face was still pale, not warming up anytime soon. Why did she have to forget her bra?! Out of ALL things!

Rubbing her hair for it to dry, she tried to compose herself. A knock was heard at the door, which was Ittoki. "Hey, I heard the door…close," he said through the thick wood. "Is there something wrong?"

"Ask the boys who were just scarred for life," she answered bluntly.

"Can I come in?"

"Do I sound like I care?" _…No, _Otoya thought as he pulled on the handle. It was unlocked, and he and Ai entered the room.

"Can I ask why Shinomiya-san and Kurusu-san look sick?" he questioned carefully.

"They saw me in...just a towel." Her outspoken answer ticked the redhead over, causing him to stumble back. Yes, he just heard what he thought he heard, and frankly he didn't like that at all. He tried covering his face that was as red as his hair. "Are you going to leave now?"

Hirano was also wondering about Mikaze's perverted thoughts coursing through him…more like 'interested' thoughts. Ai wondered as well as to why everyone had gotten sick at what she was saying and doing.

Her eyes looked down with an unresponsive expression. Ittoki felt bad for both the boys and Hirano, as he started toward her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "It's not your fault, but why did you get out of the bathroom in only a towel?" he asked. He still couldn't help but see her in just a towel, to his anxiety.

"I…I forgot something," she answered in an icy tone, touching the calloused hand on her shoulder.

"Such as her underwear," Ai added, earning a death glare from the girl.

"Take me now," she moaned as she buried her face mindlessly into Ittoki's chest. He blushed, looking down to see only blue hair. He then realized that she didn't have her hoodie on, but she did have her glasses on that pressed on his skin.

Hirano couldn't think. She had this mask she wore for so long, but inside she was just as bubbly and positive as Nanami. The reason why she renamed herself was to try to forget a moment of her life that she knew she would never forget anyway.

_Tsundere, huh?_ The thought nearly haunted her.

"Hey, you okay? You don't look too good," Otoya said as he tried to inspect her face (partially hoping that he'd see her eyes because he was desperately curious). "Hirano-san?"

"I'm fine Ittoki Otoya," she responded in a muffled voice. Her glasses nearly drooped, so she pushed them back up. "I just need my mind to calm down, that's all."

Aoi then sat back down in front of her laptop in an attempt to forget everything that happened moments earlier. Her synthesizer was on, adjusting the headphones on her ears and the volume. Her head bobbed at the music, ignoring the two boys watching her. "Hey, now that you're here, I am interested in hearing a song of yours…maybe the first song you've ever composed," she spoke while modifying the piano music in her composing software. "What instrument were you using? Were you in the Saotome Academy when you first composed?"

"You're oddly nicer," Ai commented, trying to comprehend the 'Hirano' in front of him. _She changes a second per minute._

"Um, I actually paired up with Nanami-san to write my first song," Otoya replied, vividly remembering the time when he recorded the song and when they were tossing around some good lyrics. He even remembered his large writer's block.

"I'm guessing from your solo songs and the complexity in them, the song is 'Brand New Melody'?"

He nodded. "If you want me to play it for you, I'll get the guitar!" He ran out and came back not several minutes later with the stringed wood instrument in her hand. "This is the same guitar I used actually."

Ittoki tuned the strings, plucking a song for a warm up and clearing his throat.

Ittoki Otoya: Brand New Melody (from SilverMoon249's livejournal)

Romanji:

Futari tsukuridasu kono MERODI/MELODY ni nosete

Mirai ga kyou ni kasanaru you

Kawarazu gyutto kono FURĒZU mitai ni

Hanashitaku nainda…

Tsumadzuichattari korondari shite futari wa iku

Ashita no hou e

Kimi ga inakerya sonna atarimae no koto demo

NOIZU/NOISE darake sa

Tomechaou kono jikan kamisama ni tanonde

Time Leap &amp; Feed Back mou

Tameiki ga deru kurai

Sorasenai sorasanai kimi no hitomi

SUMAIRU zenkai de ashita o mezasou yo

Sen PA no genki de PĪSU/PEACE SAIN/SIGN

Sono toki wa iu yo ano nimoji no kotoba o

Dou shiyou mo naku HĀTO/HEART ga Fly

Kimi ni hikareru

His voice calmed the girl down. She really needed to diminish her listing weaknesses. One of them was the love for acoustic music.

"I liked it," she complimented uncertainly.

"Liked it?" Otoya frowned. "Nothing else?"

Hirano's eyes wavered. "Well, it was about Izumi Hitomi obviously. Two voices into one, making a brand new melody…your lyrics are uplifting and fresh, but cliché."

"Cliché?" he repeated dubiously.

She nodded. "Does the entire group just focus and sing for that girl? Don't you realize how much pressure you guys are giving her?"

He stood up in disbelief. "What?"

"Have you ever noticed that she knows that you guys are more in love with her than her songs?" she questioned. "Don't you ever realize that she's hurting? Because apparently only I have, and that's just sad."

The two blinked owlishly, Mikaze 'recording' the situation in his head. "She's hurting?" Ittoki sadly mumbled. "I…I didn't know."

"The only person that would make her have the heart for boys is…" She choked in the end, coughing in her hand. "E-Excuse me…"

She sped into the bathroom, bringing a bottle of water with her. "Nanami-san was right," Ittoki pronounced with a deep frown. "Hirano-san is sick."

"I noticed blood on her hand when she grabbed the water bottle," Mikaze mentioned. He enhanced that fact into his brain of information on his test subject.

Otoya just stared at the door.

Hirano had drunken her water along with swallowing the pill, letting it slide down her throat. She coughed vigorously, thinking about the way Nanami looked at her. Her eyes trailed down to the bottle of pills. _Thirteen left,_ Aoi thought. _I need to get a new prescription._

Heavily sighing, she unlocked the door, pushing through. "Are you okay? I'll get the others if you want!"

Ittoki was frantically inspecting Aoi's face, noticing that her extremely pale face was icy to the touch and blood stained the corner of her lips. "You were coughing out blood!"

She stared right through the boy, feeling lightheaded. She was about to utter something to get him out, but had instead collapsed. "Hirano-san!"

The name resonated in her ears and it was agonizing to hear.

* * *

**Mia: Unnecessary drama? Check! I repeat: unnecessary? CHECK!**

**Haruka: Are you okay, Mia-san?**

**Mia: *thumbs up* Yup! Now I'm just gonna fall off a cliff...**

**Before I die, can you throw in a review please? I feel deflated without them.**

**And I'm sorry for not updating last week! So I'll be posting two chapters! :)**


	5. Undeniable Secrets

**Mia: Can I get a WOOT WOOT?! YESSSS I did just update 2 chappies! I hope you like them!**

**Haruka: If Mia had owned UtaPri, she would've made season 3 come out in 2014 instead of 2013! *smiles***

**Mia: Aw...you're so kind Haru-chi! But sadly, I don't. *imaginary cat ears drooping* But! *perking up* I do own Hira-chi!**

**Hirano: Go away. Fall off a cliff.**

**Mia: I did, remember? I DIED, then...I'm alive again! Hooray!**

* * *

Chapter Five: Undeniable Secrets

Once the girl had finally found her senses, Hirano's dream had screeched to a stop. "Ugh, my head," she groaned to no avail.

"You were screaming in your sleep," someone primed her.

"Yeah, for someone named Ra-chan!" another exclaimed. She trembled madly as if she had a heart attack for a second, and then remained stagnant. _Ra-chan?_

Hirano knew that nickname anywhere. She just wondered why she was shrieking such a name when she avoided it for a while. Her eyes struggled to adapt to the blinding light, finding STARISH and Haruka sitting around her.

She feverishly backed up to the headboard of the bed, realizing that she finally had a bed...nah, it was Mikaze's. The blanket she was just covered in was a fluffy marshmallow white, with faux fur sewed on it. The pillows her butt landed on was moist from her sweat and also white, the headboard and footboard a metal silver that shone at every angle.

She would have to take a shower again.

"W-What are you doing here?" she questioned anxiously, hugging her knees.

Ittoki sighed in a relieved tone. "You passed out in my arms, so Mikaze watched you and laid you on his bed while I called some people over," he explained.

"You were so cold and pale, Hirano-san!" Nanami worriedly added with a concerned nod. "When I left to get water for you and came back, you were suddenly all hot and sweaty so Syo-kun fanned your face. Are you okay?"

Listening to this, Hirano had to admit that they were awfully trustworthy. She bit her lip, feeling fine at the moment but knew that she tended to do that when she tried to tell someone a secret.

In fact, she never told a secret before. She tried so many times only to fail, so she instead used a different approach by allowing the others to figure it out.

It had evidently worked.

"I'm completely fine now, so I'll patiently watch your feet walk out of the room," Aoi replied defiantly. She unconsciously rubbed her shoulders, signaling the other boys that she was cold.

Ren would give her his sweater if he wore one, but wore only a shirt. Giving his shirt should only be a moment in time first shared with Nanami to him. He confirmed that ever since Haruka had tried to find his torn up song he wrote for homework.

She scarred the others, especially Natsuki and Syo. The way she acted, not wanting anyone near her when she clearly needed some help and attention…similar to Nanami.

"Stop resisting because it's not worth it," Ichinose grunted. "You're stubborn but drop the act because we're staying to help you whether you like it or not."

"Oh, Otoyan, Toki! There you are!" exclaimed a voice from outside of the door. That was when Hirano noticed that the door was wide open, sulking at the thought of people overhearing what they were saying. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're staying with Hirano-san tonight," Otoya replied, the two deadpanning at the way the brown-haired boy casually addressed them.

Kotobuki laughed heartily, a hand over his chest. "Why's that?"

"She's sick," Hijirikawa resolved, joining the conversation.

Hirano's eye twitched. "What? I'm not sick, I just caught a coughing fit and got lightheaded, and that's all. It happens all of the time, and no one's there for me. I'm still alive _now_, so I can take care of myself."

Mikaze had entered the room, holding cough medicine in his hand and a spoon. He kneeled down to her, opening the cap and tearing out the seal. "Here's the medicine," he informed everyone in the room without much of concern on his face.

Aoi groaned. "Do you people worry about every little thing?"

"But you coughed out blood and passed out in front of me!" Ittoki opposed while fighting the blush dusting his cheeks. "How can anyone not be worried?"

She rolled her eyes. "I have pills—" she coughed before she finished the rest of what she was about to say. Secrets could literally kill her. How charming.

"Hirano-san!" Haruka cried in deep alarm, holding out a napkin. Aoi turned away, continuing to cough relentlessly until it ceased at last.

The blue-haired girl simply sighed in exhaustion. "I'm fine, okay?! I just need some rest. Now scram before I get my gun."

"You have a gun?!" Reiji exclaimed in childish wonder. Hirano's face was dead serious, though she lied through clenched teeth.

She just wanted them out. Maybe that'd be something she'd wish on a star one day.

All but Mikaze left, leaving the two alone. "I meant you too, you know," she muttered to the cyan-haired boy. He shook his head mechanically, holding out the spoon.

Smacking her head, Aoi stared at the disgusting liquid. "It'll help you sleep," he spoke at last.

That actually tempted her.

She gave up resisting, and held her breath while leaning in with her mouth wide open. It closed in on the spoon, pulling back with a small 'pop' as she swallowed with a sickened look on her face.

The medicine wasn't actually that bad, to her surprise. It actually tasted familiar. She remembered taking that same medicine back when she was little, for it was for all ages. "This is nostalgic…"

"So you have taken it before?"

Hirano's head faced his, her lips drawing a thin line. Her head gave a slight nod, acknowledging his question. She knew how keen Ai tended to be, but never knew that he would study everything she did. But she was his test subject after all. "I must do something," she said with a minor cough while standing off of the bed, only to be escorted back in it.

"You need to stay there and sleep," Mikaze protested. He wasn't sure if Hirano had noticed it yet, but she was on his bed.

Apparently, she did just then realize it and briskly shook her head. "I'm on your bed," she pointed out.

"Forcing a sick person to sleep on the floor is wrong," he retorted. _I had enough of this nonsense, _Aoi furiously thought as she hung her head in a deflated manner.

"You've won this round," she mumbled, "but won't win the next. Just give me the laptop."

Mikaze nodded and handed the closed laptop in her care. She was drawn to thank him, saying, "I appreciate what you're doing for me."

_How unusual, coming from her, _Ai remarked in his head with a baffled expression. She typed on her computer, clicking on things randomly. He leaned behind her shoulder in an attempt to see what she was doing.

Incensed, Hirano stopped typing. "Don't you have better things to do than watch what I'm doing?"

"I just want to watch you fall asleep," he countered. "It might take some time, so watching you type slower consumes the clock."

The guy pressed her buttons in such a fashion that Hirano just sought to let them flee. She didn't have time for such insolent manners and definitely didn't want that idiot by her side…yet she allowed it. Her subconscious kept telling her to do things she didn't wish to do—and yet she did it anyway.

It puzzled Aoi no avail.

She closed several tabs of her Internet, not bothering to clear the history because she had a lock whenever she closed her computer. She also checked her emails, which were just advertisements on flash sales and such. Then, she just played some music afterward. "Is that my song?" Ai suddenly questioned, throwing the riveted girl off.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," she replied. "Your single 'Trans Winter.' You have a strange way of singing."

This confounded the boy. "Are you saying that my voice is weird?"

Finding her words vulgar, Aoi shook her head. "No, I didn't mean it that way…it's just too spot on, you know?"

"I don't."

"Well, this will get a bit complicated then," she ineptly stated as she comprised herself. "Like your moments in 'Poison Kiss,' it's very robotic and too perfect, I should say. No emotion is given in your song, despite the pulls and strains you purposefully do to lure fans. I sometimes wonder if you know what 'love' is, much more what you're talking about in your songs."

Mikaze blinked. He really hadn't known what the meaning of love was, really. He only knew that it was an emotion that everyone normal should have. "I don't…"

Aoi turned back to him in feeble shock. "Is that right? You really haven't felt it once in your life, or even know what it is?" she asked.

"It is an emotion, correct?"

"That's all you can say?" She was utterly astonished, with the expression frozen on her usually composed face. It dawned on her that she might've been right on her minor thought she had about Mikaze. "Are you perhaps…I'm crazy."

Noticing that she cut off in the middle of her sentence, Ai bore his cyan eyes at her, as if he could see through her glasses. "Perhaps what?"

Aoi bit her lip, turning back to the computer. "Based off of my research, you look similar, feasibly _exactly_ like a man named Kisaragi Aine. He went missing a few years ago, and that's when you were having your music debut and partly joined QUARTET NIGHT. My information is not definite, but a professor had been working on robots connected to real individual humans' emotions as an experiment for something I know not what because of the choppy information, and I think that…you might be a…robot."

The words stung Ai's mind. The girl hid her embarrassment in her bangs at what she didn't believe she said. "But how?"

The bells struck hard, the buzz still in her head. "What do you mean 'how?'" she lashed back. "It was just a guess! I didn't mean it!"

"No," he objected. "I meant how did you know that I was a robot?"

_So I was right? _Hirano thought recklessly in entire disbelief. _That…that can't be right…_

Hirano had played her cards right, and had won the game she never intended to play in the first place.

The air that surrounded them abruptly frosted. The blue-haired girl rubbed her arms to keep warmth, with Mikaze noticing such and taking off his sweater. "You're cold," he said.

"Like I hadn't known," Hirano grumbled sarcastically, shaking her head for him to keep the warm sweater. "I just need my jacket over there." She pointed to her jacket on the white table.

"That'll be washed," he countered swiftly, and so the girl was forced to give in. His sweater was a dark red and very warm from his body warmth, causing Aoi to grow hot herself instantly.

She took it sincerely just to be polite, allowing it to slide for once. _What a first day, _Hirano thought carelessly with a sigh. Her eyes grew heavy, notifying her that she was fatigued.

The song had finally ended, so she closed the laptop and laid down. "Are you tired now?" Ai asked.

"Exhausted you mean," she murmured with a scoff. "I hope that life doesn't get more complicated on the next day."

The boy was silent, staring at her with a piercing gaze that kept her awake. "I…I'll keep your secret. It's safe with me," she lowly added with a yawn while she bundled herself up in the blanket. "Thank you, Mikaze Ai…"

She fell asleep, slowly trusting the people around her.

Mikaze watched her peaceful sleeping form, adjusting her bangs and pulling out her glasses ever so carefully. He knew that he wouldn't be able to see her eyes that way, but could see them in the morning if he 'woke' up fast enough.

He walked out of the room to get Shinomiya and Kurusu, beckoning them to come in. He ended up bringing the entire group to check on her, and so all but the two roommates left.

The two asked if Ai was going to be all right sleeping on the floor, and the guy frankly didn't mind since he didn't feel much discomfort but was connected to some feelings like what Hirano had mentioned with him. Was that why he could feel some sensations but not others?

Despite being aware of the password lock, Ai took the laptop and computed the passcode in his computerized brain. He really was a robot, not understanding many feelings.

The password shocked him. _'HARUKA_NANAMI.'_ Typing that in to check if he was right, it gave him access.

It had worked.

Now the mystery left was why she chose Nanami's name for the password. There was no apparent reason, so it had probably gotten personal.

The quote was tattooed onto his brain. _'The only person that would make her have the heart for boys is…'_

It crashed on him like a ton of bricks. If Hirano had finished her sentence, it would end in _'…me.'_

It was undeniable. Haruka knew the first secret, which was her sickness. Shinomiya had seen her eyes that resembled Haruka to the pupil, and Mikaze had just known the girl's password.

Nanami was somehow related to Hirano, and he figured that she was trying to get to the redhead. For what and why, he wondered, but he knew that his system would crash and reboot if he tried to compute it in his head all at once.

She had hidden her distinct features to hide her identity. She had avoided the rest of the group for less suspicion, not noticing herself that she was just feeding their curiosity even more. She had known much about all of them. What she said before she coughed out blood.

The quote stood out. If Haruka were to see Aoi's face, then she'd know who she was and that would cause her to 'love again,' but he didn't know how.

Intrigued by the entire mystery, Ai closed the laptop and had devised a plan for some DNA testing for Hirano Aoi's true self.

* * *

**Mia: I know...hate me for all eternity. I cut you off...maybe I'll connect you on...on Wednesday. Not many people are reading this, so perhaps I'll just let you review now...**

**Hirano: That was not my password.**

**Mia: Yep it was! Deal with it, Hira-chi!**

**Sayonara~! *salutes***


	6. Deal Or No Deal

**Mia: If any of you loyal readers please read my other UtaPri fanfic, I'd appreciate it! It's called 'Personality Mood Switch,' and I assure you that you're gonna laugh! Or not...**

**Anyway, disclaimer! I don't own UtaPri...though I wish. :P**

* * *

Chapter Six: Deal Or No Deal

To be honest, Hirano was frustrated at everyone. It was like they were hiding something from her. They kept whispering behind her back, asking weird questions to her, and distracting her from doing anything she was trying to do all along.

Mikaze was first. "Can I cut your hair? It looks too long." Hair attempt.

"What? You can barely see my hair, so how do you know if it's too long?" Fail.

Haruka was voted next. "Do you want a glass of water?" Saliva attempt.

"I just drank some earlier, no thanks." Fail.

Syo. "I need your blood for some experiment I'm doing." Blood attempt.

"Why do you need mine?"

"It has to be a girl's."

"Why not use Haruka's blood?"

"…I need a blue-haired girl's?"

"You're questioning yourself...my hair is dyed." Fail with a deadpan.

Shinomiya. "Hira-chan! I need a pee sample!" Urine attempt.

"You just gave me the impression of stalking...WHAT?!" Fail with a double minus.

Enough was enough.

She was in the middle of critiquing a song from Camus, which was truly unnecessary on her part. She was needed for the group, not for individuals, though this could get the girl to understand their music type better.

It still annoyed her to HELL.

During this, Aoi had heard stray conversations on the side that had nothing to do with the performance, she knew. She raised a hand up, signaling the man to stop singing and the music abruptly terminated.

"Hey!" she shouted to the others, a vein popping out of her forehead. "You people have no respect! Right now I'm trying to concentrate on his performance and with you and your little conversations babbling on and on about wandering nonsense, I can't! I apologize Camus, but you people, _out_!"

Her blood was boiling, and it was like her ears would blow out steam any second then. Some trembled their souls off, while others were mad themselves at her. Mikaze gave note on this.

"We shall leave," he agreed, gesturing the others to follow. They reluctantly did, Haruka looking over her shoulder to see Hirano's frustrated face.

They left, and spoke of more devious plans.

"You know, I think someone needs to ask her of things she likes instead of acting like complete idiots in front of her," Cecil said with a laugh.

Nanami cut in. "I believe the right thing to do is to make her open up to us and trust us more," she said. "I have an idea."

The boys watched her and opened up their ears to anything. "If what Mikaze-kun is saying is right, how we're slowly figuring out her secrets, then we should do this process slowly. We can't rush her and end up meddling with her only to satisfy our curiosity. She'll just be mad at us…so we should just make our movements subtle and not obvious, because I really feel bad for her."

Mikaze nodded while sensitively hearing the music room and Camus' footsteps in the hall. "I'm back and managed to hear her play a song if that was any help," he told them.

"She played a song?" STARISH asked in unison.

"On the piano, yes," he curtly responded. "Now, my pointless job is done. I'll be in my room now." He left without further words, turning the ball of his heel and the echoing sound of footsteps stirring the hallway.

The rest rushed on the opposite direction, listening intently on Hirano's song. To Natsuki, Syo, and Ai's surprise, it was the same song they had heard the other day. Mikaze watched the others crowd on the small lock hole, solely listening on the music.

For some odd reason, lyrics formed in his head, matching up perfectly with the song. His brain automatically formed notes as well, and harmonies that would contemplate perfectly with the piano music. "It's so beautiful, yet sad," Haruka commented with a wry smile. "As if it reflects off her own feelings…"

Some of the boys turned to look at her, only to flinch at her streaking tears. "Why are you crying?" Ichinose questioned with a look.

"It just reminds me so much of something," she sobbed, her voice cracking from nearly choking.

Hirano had heard it all, but kept playing. She made Nanami cry, and even worse, she knew why. The song made her on the verge of tears as well, as her fingers trembled wildly on every note that increased its volume. The piece became startlingly intense to the listeners.

It was as if nothing else happened in the world when that song was playing. The emotion, the passion, the shaky feeling in the entire body…as if it was a depressing pulse. It filled the heart with pity and the mind with sorrow.

Then, the song ended with a continuous note that Hirano's fingers left on the piano to stay.

It had even stuck the boys, not making them cry but making them think instead. Having enough, Ichinose unlocked the door. "So it was you," he muttered as he saw the bleak girl sitting on the piano with her hands still on it. It trembled so much that Aoi couldn't move and didn't know how to speak.

At last, she sighed. "I haven't played in so long, and this was the first song I've ever composed," she spoke, notifying them of a part of her large past. "I stopped for a while, avoiding music whenever I could. But, ha! Look at me now, telling you nonsense and playing the piano once again."

She shook her head, lifting her pale hands and standing up. There was something about her that Tokiya itched to know. It came to his senses that he shouldn't and mind his own worries.

Yet he couldn't help it. "Hirano."

Aoi flinched at the address. "Y-Yes?"

"Your music. Does it have lyrics?"

"It does now," Mikaze replied instead before Hirano could utter a word. This surprised all of them. "It formed in my head as we heard it. May you play it again?"

Hirano shook her head. "I…I'm sorry, but I can't. The piano…despite how much I love feeling the keys again, I could barely play it just now. It somehow hurt…a lot. Please understand and don't make me do it again."

"Then I will play it," Hijirikawa said as he walked toward the piano where the girl was. He was about to touch the sheets when Hirano pulled them close to her.

"No, you can't play this…It's personal," she said with a stern look. "I…If you insist, I'll play it."

Mikaze nodded, and she sat back down. As if she had forgotten, her hands couldn't find the right position. Tokiya's hand lightly touched her right, causing her to jerk back. "W-What are you doing?"

"Relax. Just try to play, and don't worry about anything else. Mikaze-sempai will just sing the lyrics he thought of."

This somewhat eased her tense shoulders, and Aoi managed to play.

Mikaze Ai: Winter Blossom

Romanji:

Yuki ga marude sakura no you Uh, Silent White

Hirari, hirari, tenohira ni maiochite kiete yuku yo

KISU de oou youni yorisoi atatame au to

Tsutau kimi no kodou ni naze ka chotto dake mune ga kurushikute

Nē…kamisama? BOKU ni kokoro ga

Futto yadotta toshita naraba

Kanojo to onaji kanjou no

Tatta hitoshizuku, kanaete kudasai

Saigo wa egao de, nakanaide hoshii

Zettai ni kyou o wasurenai kara

"BOKU wa kimi no naka…ikitsudzukete yuku…"

Ai o…Uh arigatou Bye-Bye My Dear

Hitotsu futatsu kizamareteta Bright Memory

Waruku wa nai omoide ga nukumori to kawatte yuku

Yasashi sugiru kara BOKU ni wa mabushi sugita yo

Kimi no kotoba no subete tachi wa utsukushiku kaze e to kirameku

Amari ni no kyori ga tookute

Kitto kizutsuketa hi mo atte

Dou sureba yokatta no ka ga

Tabun ima naraba…wakaru ki ga suru

Dakishimete itai…zutto eien ni

SAYONARA no jikan tometa mama

"Kimi ga suki datta…HONTO suki datta"

Konna ni afureteru Brilliant Love Song

Saigo wa egao de…nakanaide hoshii

Zettai ni kyou o wasurenai kara

"BOKU wa kimi no naka…ikitsudzukete yuku…"

Ai o…Uh arigatou

Soshite BOKU to iu…sonzai no zenbu wa

Hana to natte kimi o mamoru no

Dou ka shinjite…mirai e no tane wa

HĀTO ni saku hazu…da yo Promise To You

The song ended, and Hirano was speechless. Standing up, she chided the boy. "What kind of lyrics were those? That had emotion in them, and considering what you are, that's impossible! I don't get it! How could such lyrics mean anything when you…" She realized whom he was singing about, glancing at his emotionless face in an attempt to read his expression.

Her brows knit and her eyes narrowed to near slits. "I don't understand. It doesn't make sense…" Slowly, her face darkened as it hit her again and again and again.

"Hirano-san!" Haruka exclaimed. "That music was hard to play! You're amazing, even though it was a bit sad—" She cut off at the simple grunt that escaped the blue-haired girl's lips.

"That came from the mind?" Hirano questioned.

Mikaze nodded. Aoi couldn't help but stand glued to the spot, motionless and desolate. "…I applaud you. Now, I'll be moving to Ittoki Otoya, Ichinose Tokiya, and Kotobuki Reiji's room. Thank you for allowing me to sleep comfortably and giving me access to the room."

She gave them all a brief nod, and walked out of the room with the sheets tightly held close to her chest. Her face was hidden and out of sight, so no one knew her expression then.

Ichinose, nearest to the piano, touched the keys. "They're very wet and hot," he observed.

"Considering her jacket, she's got to be burning," Kurusu said with a twitched eye.

Nanami couldn't help but live on the moments when she played the song without Mikaze's lyrics added to it. "'Winter Blossom' is what I'm calling it. I'll record the song and send it out before the month ends as a single," Mikaze noted aloud. "I'll be leaving as well, synthesizing with more instruments."

His footsteps were then unheard once it passed two hallways. "Ne, Haruka-san?" Cecil called softly to her dazed expression. Haruka shook her head abruptly.

"Oh, yes Cecil-san?"

"That song must've been very familiar with you," he said wisely. "Are you all right?" Honestly, Nanami hadn't known what to say after that. Her response was mumbles and stutters that no one could comprehend, and it ended up with her face a deep crimson and her hand on her sweltering cheek.

"My lady, your face is very flustered," Ren spoke, his hand lifting up her chin to get a better look. "Do you perhaps know of the girl?"

"No, but I undoubtedly know that song anywhere!" she exclaimed, tearing his exquisite gaze into a confused one instead. "Someone played that exact same song to me before…but I don't remember who." Nanami frowned wistfully.

Meanwhile, Hirano was just finished packing her belongings, and left the room. She crossed paths with Ai, and the moment was forthrightly awkward. Mikaze stopped walking, which caused her to stop as well. "I liked the words you put in that song," she finally spoke, but it hadn't lightened up the twitchy mood.

"Is it all right if I use that as my single?" he asked.

This caused Hirano to blink owlishly. She should've guessed that such a well-written song would be wished to be recorded and out as a new hit single. However, the song was hers and was profoundly special to her. Such a song shouldn't just be given to just anyone, because that'd just be stupid.

So she tested him. "I will, if you do this for me."

"And what is that?"

"Answer this question: What is love?" The thought just crossed her mind with a mental smirk, knowing that Mikaze hadn't known what it was. "If lyrics just came to you like that, it must have some meaning to it. I felt it back there. If you could tell me how you felt and the experience of love, then I'll fairly hand the song to you. Oh, and you have a timer."

Mikaze hadn't backed down yet. "When's the deadline?"

"Let me see…" Hirano tapped her chin, wondering if she should make things harsh or not. Sure she didn't want to give it away, but she wanted to know how Ai felt at the same time. "In a week, at twelve noon Thursday. I hope to hear a good answer from you by then," she replied. "So, deal or no deal?"

Like the first time he met her, she hadn't allowed him to answer and smiled, "Great," swiftly passing him by.

It didn't matter anyway, because he wasn't going to say no—especially to Aoi.

* * *

**Mia: Ahhhh...Hira-chi...so cruel! Why did I make you SO CRUEL?!**

**Hirano: It's all your fault.**

**Mia: So...do you want to change your personality? Though it's kinda too late for that...6 chapters too late...**

**SO!**

**PLEASE review! I love them like anyone and don't be scared to tell me if you see any problems or grammar errors! I am all about proper grammar! Though my other fanfic probably has tons...**

**WELP! R&amp;R!**


	7. Questions and Answers

**Mia: Yo! Sorry if I was slow to update, had stuff going on. Whelp, it got sorted out, so here's a fresh new chappie out of ze oven! Haha~!**

**I own UtaPri now! On none of the days of the week!**

* * *

Chapter Seven: Questions And Answers

Haruka blushed. "So, you don't know what love is?" she questioned while wondering why Mikaze would come to her for an answer. Then she contradicted herself by thinking that boys wouldn't usually ask other boys for the meaning of love…or would they? It's equally awkward with girls.

Ai nodded. "It's a very complicated emotion that I don't mind much. However, it's about time I know," he said. Nanami wasn't sure if he knew how weird he was acting, but just didn't mind much and tried to answer.

"Well..." She looked to the left, saying, "I don't have much experience with love, but I know that it's a lovely feeling to have. When you feel different around that person, you know that that person has a special place in your heart. When you feel like there's a connection with you and that person, you feel as if…as if it's hard to be apart."

Mikaze watched her expression falter, smiling thoughtfully nonetheless. _A connection…feeling different and difficult to be apart,_ Mikaze thought. "Is it feeling like the phrase 'butterflies in you stomach'?" he asked.

Nanami shook her head. "Not exactly," she replied. "That's not a feeling, it's more of giddiness, I guess—something where you get flustered and shy. Love is more like you want to spend the rest of your life with that person, to have children and grandchildren and love that person until death. Then again…there are different kinds of love."

This puzzled Ai. "Can you tell me?"

"There's sibling love, where two people love each other as siblings and want to care for each other until they're adults and possibly even farther. There's motherly love, where a mother tends the child or someone treats you like a mother would, cooking and feeding you like a baby." She giggled before continuing. "There's fatherly love, where someone spends time with you in sports and such. Then there's friendly love, where that person would hang out with you and share the biggest secrets with you. They'd also do the biggest experiences with you and make you laugh on the gloomiest day. And then there's the love of your life, which was what I was speaking about earlier."

The explanation just squashed the cyan-haired boy's 'brain.' "Just one more question. Have you ever experienced those ways of love?"

Nanami tapped her chin. "Let's see…there's my obaa-chan, who would be both motherly and fatherly love. Then my friend Tomo-chan who was my friend when I was in Saotome Gakuen, but I don't think I've ever experienced love for a man that I'm driven to quite yet."

"Then how do you know how it feels?"

"Tomo-chan likes talking about it. Uh, sorry Mikaze-sempai, but I must be getting back to my composing." Nanami stood up from her chair while walking out. "If you need anything else, I'll try to answer you with the best I can." She beamed, and shut the door. Mikaze sat on his bed in his bedroom, thinking hard at Nanami's explanation of love. He took note of that, and stored it in his brain.

It was time to see the others in case that wasn't right.

"Eh? You're asking me?" Ittoki asked while stumped at why Mikaze would choose him of all people to ask such a strange question.

"Hirano Aoi had known that you loved someone," Mikaze briefly explained. "Knowing that, I thought that possibly you could tell me how it feels from experience. She said that your voice held meaning, and I'd like to know."

_Well if you say it that way_, Otoya thought. "Well, you feel like you'd go crazy around that person. You want to hug her, hold her hand, tell her anything…kiss her…" His face reddened, as he looked away.

Ai's posture kept its poise. "Explain further in more detail," he instructed.

"...Well, it's like you want to do so much with that person, be with her every step of the way and share every first experience with that person. Such as a first date, a first anniversary, and first kiss," he said sheepishly, his ears reddening. Mikaze pressed his lips firmly together, taking note on that and overlapping the information with Haruka's.

Knowing about Ren's reputation, he sought for his perspective of love.

"The swing of things and the smooth flow of love," Jingugi said while using his dart to hit the target board. "Women are like a target. You as the dart must hit their heart and aim for it as many times as possible to fill it up entirely." With another dart in hand, he hit the middle, and repeated the process until there was no more room in the middle left. "It makes the woman only love you, and no one else can steal her heart except you."

Taking this literally, Ai questioned, "But if you steal a woman's heart, does that mean that she would die? I don't see this as love."

Ren stared at him before chuckling. "You truly don't understand the wondrous effects of love. Tell me this, why are you so curious of the meaning?"

"Hirano Aoi had requested me to tell her the meaning of love in order for me to own her composition of 'Winter Blossom.'"

"And why the meaning of love?"

"Because she knows I don't understand it."

"Well that part's obvious," Ren said while twirling the dart in between his fingers. "You're a man of no experience, and cannot ask any others for something like that. You must ride the highway of love to truly understand the feeling. Is there any special girl in mind?"

Mikaze couldn't do that. He was a robot, so what could he do? Robots can't fall in love—not even the right side of the mind would say so. However, Ai had some emotions that came from Aine Kisaragi. Could Kisaragi perhaps fall in love with someone for Ai's sake?

He couldn't do that…he was in a coma after all. Finding his words carefully, Ai replied, "You cannot force someone to fall for someone that quickly."

Jingugi hesitated. "You are a clever one," he subtly complimented while walking towards the board to pluck the darts one by one. He took his time with the process and his words. "A man in love with a woman can occur instantly by merely looking at them, while others find each other after a long while. Some have been friends and have known each other for so long but can't bring themselves to admit that they're in love. Some have a forbidden love that cannot be revealed to a family member or friend, such as Romeo and Juliet."

Ai took that as notes. "But you," Jingugi started in contradict, "I can see from your usually emotionless eyes that you indeed have found a mate. Whom I wonder."

Mikaze blinked perplexedly at this accusation. "I know not what you claim I am," he said at last.

"You sound unsure of yourself," Ren retorted while chuckling. "Very hesitant. You cannot lie to someone who knows when someone's in love. Or rather you're unsure of your feelings…or doubted those relentless emotions in there." He poked the cyan-haired boy's chest for emphasis. "Other than that, you have intrigued me, Mikaze-sama. I enjoy your curiosity, but you will never know the meaning of love unless you give in to it."

Hijirikawa entered the room just when Ren was finished with his words, and questioned Ai's presence. "Just looking for me to ask for the wonderful meaning of an emotion of the heart," Jingugi replied suavely. "Good luck, Mikaze-sama."

Mikaze had learned a lot from the three people he interrogated, yet Ren's words still repeated in his mind. _You're a man of no experience, and cannot ask any others for something like that. You must ride the highway of love to truly understand the feeling._

_I can see from your usually emotionless eyes that you indeed have found a mate. Whom I wonder…_

_You cannot lie to someone who knows when someone's in love._ It echoed in his ears. Not noticing where he was going, he bumped into Syo. "Hey!"

"You're awfully loud."

"You bumped into me!"

"You seeing this should've dodged."

Kurusu groaned, crossing his brows indignantly. "Sheesh, what's your problem? And you're really distracted once I think about it more…you okay?"

"That is none of your business," he dismissively said while walking aside. Syo was curious and walked along with him.

"You're really distracted from something, so what is it?"

Mikaze sensed that he would be a nuisance until he says something. "Jingugi Ren claims that I am in love," he responded.

Syo widened his already large cerulean eyes at this. "You're in love?" he exclaimed questionably. "Wow, I didn't know that someone as stiff as you would ever look at someone that way. Who is it?"

Mikaze stared at him blankly. "I don't know."

Kurusu made a distorted face. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"He claims it because of the look in my eyes, yet I don't give a clue as to whom it could possibly be."

Syo nodded, understanding it. "You're straight, right?"

"Straight? I believe my posture is, but I don't see how it relates to this—"

Syo interrupted, "No, that's not what I meant! I mean you don't love guys, right?" Comprehending this, Mikaze shook his head briskly. "Then you're into girls?"

"I believe I am," the cyan-eyed boy replied. Syo nodded his head again, rubbing his chin. Adjusting his hat, he came with a startling conclusion that even surprised his own self.

"The only girls who are in the dorm are Nanami and Hirano-san…you don't really know Nanami well, do you? Hirano just…I can't imagine anyone liking her that way, that's all."

Mikaze felt a pang in his chest. _Is this the strange feeling of love?_ He wondered. _The feeling is very strange and foreign, almost overwhelming._ "I don't know Haruka that well, but Aoi…"

It smacked the two of them on the face. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Kurusu cried in shock, ending up more as an exclamation than a question. "You can't be serious! How did that happen?!"

"Now don't start jumping to your accusations," Mikaze said calmly, his voice cool and collected. "Your thoughts are wild, I'm not sure about that."

"Well believe it or not sempai," Syo said, "but the heart doesn't lie." Syo himself had taken a small liking to Hirano, who was starting to warm up to the others. However, thinking about it so strangely made him feel strange himself. _Do I like her too? No way, I like Nanami more…what?_

Syo blushed at his thoughts, and the two parted without much conversation afterward. On the way, he stopped at a vending machine for some soda, and found Aoi there trying to fit a bill in. "Ugh, these things never accept bills," she muttered with a tired sigh.

Spotting a shadow, she cocked her head right. "Oh, Kurusu Syo," she said unpretentiously. "This machine's stupid, you go ahead." She stepped back for him to walk in her place.

"No, it's okay!" he exclaimed, as he waved his hands with a flustered face.

Hirano blinked precariously. "May I ask…what's with that face? I just gave you a chance for a soda, and you go and let the chance pass—"

"Fine, fine!" Syo interrupted, shoving his clean bill in and got his soda. He was really embarrassed at what he did not even a minute ago. "U-Uh, Hirano?"

"Hm?"

The words couldn't find his dry mouth but he tried. "W-Well, Ai-sempai said that he might have fallen in love with you…" His face heated up at this, while Hirano twitched, crushing her bill.

"…Is that so?" she muttered while rubbing her temple. "Mikaze Ai? But that's not possible…"

Syo glanced at her. Since he was taller than her (but not by much), he could faintly see her wavering eyes through the glasses. Hirano then looked up to see him really close to her. She jerked back in surprise, which caused Kurusu to realize that he had unconsciously drifted to her. "Ah, I…"

Hirano took a step back, tripping backward at the slippery floor. Syo took swift movements, dropping his soda and pushing a hand on her back, the other on her shoulder. Her eyes closed, waiting for the sore impact, but she didn't feel it, and instead felt warmth on her back.

Syo was way too close to her face…their noses could touch. She opened an eye, and then blinked, gaping at whom she saw. "Kurusu," she mumbled while looking behind her to the floor.

Gulping hard, she stood up. She shot a glare at the blonde, who suddenly blushed a deep scarlet. "I…you continue to surprise me, Kurusu Syo," she finally said.

Hirano then crouched down to pick up Syo's soda. "This is yours," she said as she held it out to him. He took it in discomfiture, attempting to calm his nerves. The way she looked at him at that time when he kept her from falling—it was as if the world paused to Kurusu. Like the background blurred and all he saw was pale skin, blue hair and familiar eyes through those dark-tinted glasses…

"Uh, Hirano? What color are your eyes?" he asked.

Hearing this, Aoi stared at him. "Why do you want to know something so pointless?"

"It's not pointless, I'm just curious because you hide your eyes with those glasses."

Aoi's mouth drew a thin line, glancing at him before letting out a short breath. She reluctantly clasped her hand on Syo's wrist, urging him to come with her if he really wanted to know. Syo then walked alongside with her, her hand still firmly attached to his wrist.

When they reached an empty room, Hirano locked the door. "Look, I'm going to show this once and only once, alright?" she said, earning a hesitant nod from the boy in the hat. She really didn't know why she felt the urge to show him…perhaps it was because he was adorable? Yep, she was going to kill herself later on if _that_ was the reason.

Aoi held her breath for a brief moment before pulling her glasses off. Syo stared into them, widening his eyes at the sight. _They look…exactly like Nanami's!_ Kurusu thought, as his face went agape. _It's so weird on her, as if she glued those eyes on her…_

Feeling anxious, Hirano slipped the glasses back on. "Now you know what my eyes look like," she muttered. "What are you going to do now?"

"It looks so much like someone's—"

"Such as Nanami Haruka's?" Saying the name was difficult for Hirano, since she was accustomed to addressing her as Izumi Hitomi.

Kurusu nodded. Aoi glanced at the clock, narrowing her brows at it and turned to the blonde. "Look, I have to go," she said glibly as she thought of playing the piano in the music room. She excused herself from the room, and left.

"She's acting so weird," Kurusu uttered while scratching his cheek. "One minute she's so mean, the next she's shy, then she's polite…it's hard to keep up with her."

A few moments later, he left the room as well.

* * *

**Mythia: ...Bi-polar Hira-chi! Ah haha...but seriously. Hira-chi's NOT normal.**

**Hirano: Gee, thanks. That makes me feel _real_ good about myself.**

**Mythia: Don't try to act sarcastic girl! You're as girly and adorable as Haru-chi is! Right, Haru?**

**Haruka: Ah...well, I don't know...**

**Free Haruka: *magical poof and sparkles* ...**

**All: ...**

**Mythia: Oh YAY! It's Nanase Haruka from 'Free! Iwatobi Swim Club'! He's awesome at freestyle swimming, ne, Haru?**

**Free Haruka: What am I doing here? ...Mia...it's you...**

**Mythia: *pulls out an inflatable BIG pool* Here, swim fishy boy~!**

**Free Haruka: ... *strips to swim trunks***

**Mythia: Ah haha~! He can't help it, ah ha~!**

**Hirano: ...the hell... *slowly blushes***

**Haruka: Ahh! Ohhhh... *covers eyes and runs out***

**Mythia: Well, please review and I'll give you a cookie! Or a whole cake! It was my mom's birthday last Friday (4/4)! :P**


	8. Train of Thoughts

**Mia: SO sorry if I was slow to update...gahhhh... XP**

**I don't own UtaPri, but like practically every fanfiction writer, I WISH~**

* * *

Chapter Eight: Train Of Thoughts

Hirano instinctively grazed the keys, feeling its familiarity. She started playing around with the instrument, pressing the keys for the melody of 'Maji Love 2000%.' "Nisen pa, saiko na love," she sang quietly to herself as she found the bass to it.

A head leaned over her right shoulder, and the glossy piano reflected who was behind. "Hey, are you singing STARISH's song? Aw~ No fair!"

Aoi flinched, smacking the brunette's head in irritation. "Know what space is, dimwit," she huffed while her hand was about to close the piano. Seeing this, Reiji's hand held onto hers, preventing any of her intentions.

"That's really mean for someone to reprimand someone who's older~!" he whined while Aoi just held her cold stare.

"It doesn't matter how old you are, whether you're twenty-three or sixteen," she said indignantly, referring to their ages. Kotobuki cocked his head, thinking about her look and staring at her forehead. "…What?"

He then burst into laughter, pulling off the girl's hood and ruffling her blue clustered hair that swept in different directions, mostly parted to the right on Reiji's perspective. "Hey Hira-Hira, do you realize that you never call me by anything?"

She stoned. "H-Hira-Hira?" she repeated with a twitched eye.

"Say," Kotobuki said while leaning his face to hers in an uncomfortable manner, "how will you address me?"

Blinking owlishly, Hirano gathered her thoughts and did the stare. It could be felt for miles, the whole building feeling weak all of a sudden. But the ones who actually see it with their eyes would die if they weren't well built on their supposed-to-be toned muscles (which would mean that they would faint and most likely go to the hospital earning blindness and trauma but still be alive...death would be better actually).

However, Kotobuki was almost like an alien. He just laughed in front of her face, wiping straining tears falling down his merry cheeks that formed dimples. He clutched his chest and would roll on the floor if he must, but then remembered that he was a mature adult. "AH!" he exclaimed. "Your face is so CUTE~! I even saw your eyes through your glasses!"

Hirano tilted her head slightly. "Excuse me?"

"Now," he lifted his body upright, still smiling, "what will you call me?"

Hirano was at a loss for words. "Well…I would usually address people by their last and first names—"

"What about Koto-Koto?" Aoi twitched, shaking her head vigorously. "Reiji-chan?"

"Who do you think I am to call anyone what's-their-name-chan?"

Kotobuki just chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "How about…Kotobuki-sempai? Otoyan called me that once when I corrected him, but at least it's something. Kotobuki Reiji is just no good." He whisked a finger on her face, the girl's eyes following the movements.

Catching herself, she questioned, "And why not?" Hirano arched a brow at this, her arms crossed below her chest.

"Just call them by either their first name or their last! Such as Ran-Ran—you call him Kurosaki Ranmaru. Wouldn't it just be better for Kurosaki-sempai or Ranmaru-san? Or even Ranmaru-kun?"

Her brows narrowing, she shook her head. "That's not in my dictionary. I refuse to use any name appendages."

Cecile happened to walk by, and listened in. There was a crack, and he tried to be as silent as he could while watching whatever room it gave for his sight. Their conversation was hard to hear, but Cecile was so used to being a cat that his ears were trained to hear sensitively. "H-Hey, Kotobuki Reiji! P-Put me down!"

"Aha, you're stuttering Rano! That's so cute~!"

"R-Rano?"

"Ah ha, so you like that name!"

"PUT ME DOWN OR ELSE YOU'RE DEAD!"

Aijima jumped in surprise at the outburst, leaning forward even closer to the crack. He heard Kotobuki laughing in the background, seeing Hirano punching his back to no avail with him picking her up kidnapping style. "I won't unless you say my name!"

"I did! Reiji Koto—oh..." She stopped in mid-sentence, and then glanced at the boy's shoulder-length brown locks. She groaned, "Fine…Kotobuki…s-san…"

Reiji stopped laughing, hearing the girl saying his suggestion. "Well a promise is a promise," he said while letting her foot touch the ground. With a grunt, Aoi stood up and dusted her jeans.

"You're so stupid," she muttered spitefully while giving the boy one last glare before smacking his head hard with her stony hand. "That's for touching me."

It hurt so hard the feeling even reached the cat boy, whose hairs stood on end at what he saw. Hirano continued to scold mercilessly, smacking her head in irritation and then she stiffened. She turned to face the door, which caused Aijima to scamper away. "…Aijima?"

"You mean Aijima-san~"

Her knuckles met his swollen head. "Shut up."

Meanwhile, while Cecil continued to run, he bumped into Haruka. "Cecil-san! I'm sorry!" she exclaimed with overflowing kindness as she inspected the boy who fell on the ground (so much for his feet who failed to compete with his cat-like reflexes in the past).

"You did nothing wrong, Haruka," he said with a pained smile as he stood up with the help of Nanami's hand held tightly in his. "I saw Aoi with Reiji back in the practice room, and she kept smacking him from his teasing."

Haruka blankly stared. _Such a short temper she has, _Aijima mindlessly thought as Nanami just sighed. "Hirano-san…it's difficult to put her personality into words. Well, I need to go out to get some things. I'll be back a little late." She smiled warmly, which melted the brown-haired boy's heart, his greenish blue eyes softening.

But for some reason, he pictured that same warm smile on Hirano, and it actually seemed fit. _It's strange to think such things…_

He disregarded the weird moment in his brain and walked along while whistling before being pulled away by the count, Camus, for slacking on his idol duties.

Syo couldn't help but concentrate on Hirano and his feelings toward her. He had no idea what he felt…it was like he hated the way she spoke so cruelly to others that tried to comfort her yet he was compelled to know her and understand her ways of thinking. She showed her kindness in unexpected and unfamiliar ways, but it made her unique and different from anyone Kurusu had ever met.

Nanami Haruka was someone he loved ever since she shared the same passion with HAYATO with him with Hyuga Ryuya. However, Hirano was as if she was someone he had known ever since he was born. Nanami showed kindness and concern for others, while Hirano would bluntly tell them what they needed or give it to them if someone needed help. Haruka wished for people to be happy with music, while Aoi merely corrected it if the piece was done wrong, even going further and deeper with emotion.

They did share some characteristics though. They both had a passion and strong pull and sensation for music that flowed in others who listened, and would keep others from their personal problems, shutting them out. They would think that they could tackle their own issues themselves without any help and comfort, but end up with it anyway.

Kurusu's eyes snapped back onto the paper in front of him. _This is Nanami's composition,_ he thought. _I wonder what Hirano would write for me if she composed…_

While he continued to think silently, Aoi and Reiji were still in the room. "Rano~ Please stop, I'm sorry!" he cried apologetically, clutching his throbbing head filled with popping bruises. "I won't tease you again, I promise!"

"Now you know the consequences to your meaningless actions," Hirano spat, giving him one last slap on the face before sitting down on the piano chair. Once she saw that he was really sorry, her face suddenly paled. _I did that? I may have gone too far…b-but those are just my reflexes for the past years..._

She snapped her thoughts apart, reminding herself that he deserved every single one of her hits. However, she felt guilty no matter how many times she told herself the opposite. Groaning with her eyes rolled up, she whirled around, facing the black and white keys, and started playing around with it before she found the right one. It flowed easily in her, as she tried some bass with her left hand pressing the keys professionally. "I love you tsuite oide," she mimicked Kotobuki, who blinked. "Legend days, kanaete ageru, dear my precious..."

She started playing faster, singing to the beat. "Dangerous de, aichichi na jikan sugoso ka," she sang while playing the keys. Kotobuki continued to blink at her, as she sang it. (A/N: These lyrics were done by memory. I'm sorry if I messed up somewhere...grah~)

"No, no missing!" he sang in, which caused Hirano to stop. "Hey, keep playing! You're really good!"

Aoi's fingers remained still, before resuming for his sake. He sang the song without Hirano singing anymore, to his disappointment. Reiji truly enjoyed her subtle and smooth voice that sounded really cute. He would say that out loud if he weren't aware of the brutal outcome that came with it though. Before he knew it, he finished with, "Eien no yume, oshieyou..."

He frowned for once at this. "Man, I wish this song never ended," he said with a pout. "I loved your singing voice, Rano! You must sing more often!"

Disliking compliments, Hirano shook her head with a glower. "No," she directly refused. "It's inexperienced, imperfect, and filled with flaws that would bore you if I say them all."

Kotobuki thought about her lies. _A woman of words, _he thought. "Name one."

"The range isn't even six octaves, like a professional eight-octave singer I cannot compare to."

"Name another."

"It tends to become pitchy."

"And?"

"I lose my voice often in singing, causing broken notes. It gets out of tune. It strains often. It sounds strange in a low register. It's very flat on an alto register, and out of control on high treble."

Reiji smiled deceitfully. "Anything else?"

Hirano became stagnant, her eyes narrowing dangerously. Bunching her lips up, she left the room. "Why am I answering your stupid questions?" Smacking her forehead, she bumped into someone's chest that dropped his things. "I'm sorry," she brusquely apologized, bending down to pick up several of the man's things.

"You sound angry," he noted, looking up in an attempt to see the girl's eyes. She looked up, realizing that the glasses were drooping off her nose and she pushed it back in.

"Ichinose…san," she tested, mentally smacking herself at how inexplicable it sounded. Tokiya arched a brow at this. "…Kotobuki-san had told me to address others as such."

Acknowledging her words, he stood up and held out his hand for the stuff she took. "Watch where you're going," he spoke icily as she handed it to him.

Aoi shrugged. "I see that only a certain girl can charm you," she said insipidly before walking along. He blinked, turning around to see the girl moving into the hall.

_She could read even the hardest of minds to penetrate, _Ichinose gruffly thought as he noticed something unfamiliar in his hands. It was a disc cover with a CD, with the words 'Yakusoku no Basho e' written on it. Deciding not to give it back, he hid it behind his arms filled with things.

Ittoki Otoya spotted Aoi in his room when he opened it, jumping in surprise. "Eh? Hirano!" he exclaimed in shock and surprise as he stood there in her sight.

Aoi waved, concentrating on her laptop and fidgeting in her bag. "Darn, it's not here," she grumbled gallingly while pinching her nose. "Ittoki…san, I must ask you to leave unless you have found a disc of some sort."

He blinked precariously. "Disc?" His face was blank as he tilted his head.

"Argh," she grumbled without much thought as she shuffled into her bag with a deep frown. "It's not here…"

Otoya leaned over. "Is there something wrong?" he asked concernedly.

"Unless you see a disc with a blue case in it I suggest you leave me be." Ittoki really wanted to be of some help to the neglecting girl. She tended to duck her head out of questions like a smooth criminal.

"Hirano-san, if you're having trouble with something, you should rely on others for help," Ittoki said.

Aoi huffed at this predicament. _That song's so personal. What if someone sees it? Even worse listen to it?_

Realizing that she held her breath, Aoi sighed. _Great, my train of thought collapsed…_

"Ittoki," she stood up, "is your hair natural?"

The conversation turned its tables on…Otoya's hair? "D-Did I just—?"

"Yes."

"Did you say—?"

"Yes."

"Do I—?"

She raised a hand up with a nod. "W-Well, yes it is…why?"

"Do you know anyone with experience of dying hair?"

Otoya jumped at this. It was completely random and out of the ordinary for Aoi to say something like this. The girl smacked her head. "…W-Why?"

"Because I'd like to remove my stupid unnatural hair color," she simply stated. Ittoki flinched at knowing something new about her. "Do you know anyone or not?"

Ittoki thought hard. "W-Well, Syo might know. He would know those sorts of things. Mikaze-sempai and Kurosaki-sempai too, they might know, since their hair's a bit..." He scratched his head at an annoying thought pestering his mind. He just had to know. "Hey, Hirano-san…what's your natural hair color?"

Aoi looked up with a blank stare. "Would that sort of information benefit your life in any sort?" she questioned.

"My understanding of you?"

"I'm not telling you." She stood up. "I need to go find my disc. I think Ichinose-san has it. That underhanded dog…" She left.

Ittoki just hung his head. _That…that stuttering! What was that?! I sounded so stupid! Just looking at her makes my train of thought go wild…like Nanami sometimes..._

_EH?! D-Do I like Hirano-san?!_

* * *

**Mia: Aw~ Ikki-chi, you like Hira-chi? Kawaii~!**

**Hirano: It is not. Genkis aren't my type.**

**Mia: I-Ikki-chi's here, you know...**

**Ittoki: Ah...I understand, sorry...it's just a story...**

**Mia: *mimics 'Finding Nemo'* Oh, oh, I see...DENIAL. *pushes Ittoki to Hirano and holds out a camera* Say cheese! Oh, a kiss might be nice too!**

**Hirano: W-W-Wha?**

**Ittoki: G-Gah! M-Mia san! Please don't make us do this! *squirms***

**Mia: *mimics 'Frozen'* Hira-chi! Why are you holding back from such a MAN? *sings* ~Is it the clumpy way he walks~? Or the grumpy way he talks~? OR HOW HE ONLY LIKES TO TINKLE IN THE WOODS~?**

**Hirano: *stares blankly at Ittoki* ...You like to pee in the woods?**

**Ittoki: W-W-WHAT?! *blushes madly* N-N-NO! I don't do that! Not at all!**

**Mia: HAHA, I'm joking you two lovebirds~ I might as well ship you, because you two are super duper cute! Hm...what is Hirano's zodiac sign? If it's Sagittarius, it'll be a match made in Heaven with Aries!**

**Ittoki: H-How'd you know my zodiac sign?**

**Mia: *taps chin* Hm...I think I saw it somewhere. Your birthday's in April, so that's Aries. Wait a minute...I'm Sagittarius...Ah ha! Seems like I'm compatible with Ikki-chi~! And Leo too, I'm compatible with a Leo! Tokiya's a Leo! I MUST TEASE HIM~!**

**Until next time then! Please review~!**


	9. Split That Personality

**Mia: Alright. Sorry for slow updates, blame the writer's block! Besides that, my laptop shut down, and so I had to go ALL THE WAY DOWNSTAIRS (curse the stairs!), into my parent's room (I'm only in highschool), and freaking ask my father. No, just kidding, though it's worse.**

**I asked Sia the Sicko. My twin sis who owns this story but she said that I have to write this one. BOO HER! I'm going to ruin this story—KIDDING~!**

* * *

Chapter Eight: Split That Personality

Another day with Hirano Aoi will be one heck of a day.

Hirano was walking down a corridor, very stressed out. Her CD was missing, and she had a feeling that Ichinose had it. Besides that, she also had a suspicion on Ittoki. _Does he have a fever? _Hirano wondered. _He seemed to be heating up many times_.

She frowned, pushing up her glasses and fixing her hoodie. Then, she remembered that she should compose for them, though that'd be way too stressful. She didn't want to compose for them as Hirano Aoi, the mysterious hoodie girl. She wanted to compose as _her_. Though it might've been too late already.

_What am I going to do?_ Hirano thought harshly. _I do have that soft side—no! No more egos!_

She flared inwardly, her mind stretched to no end. She really wanted to hog that CD in her hands, not for anyone to touch it again. What would happen if someone had heard that? She wasn't ready. She really wasn't.

And so, Hirano had an idea. She walked back in Ittoki's room, relieved that he wasn't in there, and had begun to change clothes. When she was done, she felt a bit...revealing.

Instead of an oversized hoodie, she was wearing a white tank top, and checkered shorts. She couldn't do with her boots, so she switched to a converse. Her mind was spinning when she was about to take off her glasses, though...

She looked in the mirror of the bathroom. She looked...different. Her tousled blue hair was up in a messy loose bun, her short locks falling down her face, her golden eyes hypnotizing, much like Haruka's. She was her twin after all, though with longer and blue hair. The rest...were the same.

Hirano frowned again at this. "What am I doing?" she asked herself. She had been Hirano Aoi for so long, it'd be difficult to be her cheerful self, or more of cheerful 'side.'

She took her black jacket, putting it on, and her dark-tinted glasses and left the room. She looked unmistakably different, with her hair up and her hood down. She had shorts on for once, no navy jeans, and converses were on her feet instead of the usual boots.

Jingugi Ren happened to walk by and froze at her appearance. "Lost sheep, I presume?" he asked no one. "I find the more distant one. Bleak, gloomy, desolated—makes me wonder about you."

Aoi looked away. "Is that a poem?"

"Most certainly not," he suavely replied. "What a lost lamb. Haruka, a little lamb. Aoi, a lost one. Hm."

Hirano sternly glared. "I'm not here to talk. I'm trying to find someone who has experience with dying hair, thank you very much." She was about to walk away before Ren ran and grabbed her hand. Hirano's face flushed ever so slightly, staring hard into the womanizer's skull. "Let me go," she ordered.

"What if I told you that I can dye your hair?" he asked, causing Hirano's hardened face to stone up.

"...Then I'd like you to be of my assistance," she replied emotionlessly, "though knowing you well enough I might want to rethink that.

"May I ask of your outfit as well?"

Hirano was practically a statue with a glare that could kill. "Is it wrong to change style?" she grunted.

Jingugi chuckled. "Why do you want to dye your hair?"

Hirano closed her eyes. "I'd like to remove my dyed hair color, dying it to my original," she said. "That is all."

"Well then, lost lamb," he let go of the girl, "what is your original hair color?"

Hirano didn't want to answer. "...Forget it. I'll learn on my own."

"What if you mess your hair up?" Jingugi questioned with a signature smirk.

Hirano looked over her shoulder, with a smile—even shocking Ren himself. "I never screw around, like you probably would."

Jingugi's smirk disappeared. _Was that supposed to be a sick sex joke?_ he wondered, his face running cold. But then, his smirk returned quickly, interested in the unexpected girl who was the one and only Hirano Aoi.

Meanwhile, Tokiya had his free time. He had worked to the bone on many things that were a part of his work, and seeing that he finally had his free time, he decided to just reside in an empty music room. There, he found a radio.

He then remembered the CD he had in his hands earlier. _That was Hirano's,_ Ichinose thought. He remembered placing it in a satchel, which was on his side at the time so he plucked it out.

Wondering what it was, he pressed the eject button of the radio box (thingy...?) and placed the disc in. He closed it, and it only had one song.

And what came of it was a slow, steady, breathtaking piano piece that stirred Tokiya inside and startled him. It sounded somewhat similar to 'Winter Blossom' but was different...

Then, he heard the girl's voice.

He twitched. It wasn't something he expected, the impact the voice had on him. It was as if he could fly—so angelic, the fluffy feeling. It felt like Nanami's voice, however, which startled him even more.

In an attempt to keep his calm, he focused on the lyrics.

KHR! Vongola Family

Yakusoku no Basho e (English Translation)

Sung by Hirano Aoi

The sky spreads somewhere,

I'll continue in this path somewhere.

Compared than yesterday, tomorrow seems further away,

I'm waiting for you in the promised place.

I can't do anything when I'm alone,

But because I want to protect you,

The thoughts of "becoming stronger"

Give me courage.

I can't do anything when I'm alone,

But I will stand, in order to protect you.

The thoughts of "becoming stronger,"

Carry a power within.

Tears of loneliness, there's a day when it's spilled

Tears of regret cannot be stopped

Me from that day reflected in the mirror

At the promised place that spreads in this heart

Only a little more we went forward

Even if the trial is waiting

If I move forward and support everyone

I'll spread happiness

Only a little more I move forward

No matter how many times I fall, I stand up

Whenever something cannot be seen in the eyes

I'll protect you with love

It's okay to be lost, it's okay to be mistaken

Don't be discouraged by it, don't lose to it

All the bonds and memories

Are invisible gems

All of your crying and smiling faces

I will embrace it and overcome it

To that endless dream

Going onward with this family

Where's this wind going to transmit?

Where's this star going around?

No matter what kind of tomorrow comes, I'll certainly go on

Even if now in me, there's surely a reason

That time, at the unseen place

You arrive and laugh

Even if in the unused thing, and even in the broken dream

The flowers in this heart blooms

Even in this empty morning

Even in times of loneliness

Even in time of unease

Even in sleepless nights

Overwhelming feelings

Even if it burns hot

The strong will of flame will be lighted

From the heart, I say "thank you"

I believe that day will come someday

As long as there's dreams in this heart

I'll go forward

Extend your hands in the blue sky

See, even if we're separated, we're connected hand in hand

We'll protect this dazzling smile

The shining you with the Family

It's okay to be lost, it's okay to be mistaken

Don't be discouraged by it, don't lose to it

All the bonds and memories

Are invisible gems

All of your crying and smiling faces

I will embrace it and overcome it

To that endless dream

Going onward with (one, two, three)

This Family, Family!

I'm always ready...

Tokiya felt the emotional timbre in the girl's voice. It was indeed Hirano's voice, sung from the heart. So she wasn't that cold after all...

The man suddenly felt guilty. He shouldn't have listened to this and should've given it back. He should apologize immediately for unintentionally snooping around. He felt guilty for thinking of Hirano Aoi as some cruel, heartless, unemotional outcast that never belonged. But in truth, she belonged. Her song…it planted something in Ichinose's heart.

It was strange to him, because so far only Haruka had managed to do that.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and in came Nanami. "Oh, Ichinose-san," she squeaked. "I'm sorry, I'll leave now—"

"Nanami-san."

Nanami jumped. "Yes, Ichinose-san?"

Tokiya hadn't known why he just randomly called out to the girl. He had not one reason. So what is he to do? Just stand there like an idiot, having nothing to say?

Clearing his throat, he spoke. "Do you know the song by the name of 'Yakusoku no Basho e'?" asked Ichinose.

The rosette blinked. "Huh? Yakusoku no…oh!" She jumped. "Well, it goes a bit like this I think, because someone had sung this song to me: Daremo sagashiteru yume wa kitto aru dokokani aru…"

The tune was completely different. It confused Tokiya, but he didn't interrupt because he was too busy savoring the moment of Haruka singing.

"...Negai ga itsuka kanaumade, hitori janai sa…and something like that. Is that what you're asking?"

It disappointed Haruka that she was wrong. "Oh…I'm sorry that that was wrong. Um…why did you ask that question?"

Tokiya ejected the CD out of the music player, and handed it to the composer. "May I entrust you to give this to Hirano-san?"

"Aoi-san? What's this?"

"It's her song, and she needs it back."

Nanami looked down, clicking some things together. "…Did you listen to it?"

"I did," he truthfully answered, "and I'll face the consequences _if_ Hirano finds out." Stressing the 'if' out, Haruka nodded, beaming brightly and zipping her lips with her finger.

"I won't tell her," she assured him, taking the CD and walking along.

Haruka really was cute. Hirano would be cute if she showed her face more, but she was something else. Anyone could agree. And so she just walked along, entering the room Hirano was supposed to be in and voila! She was there!

But she was in the bathroom, her blue hair wet and a dying brush in her hand. She looked up, blinking at the company. "Eh, Nanami...san," she said. "Do you need anything?"

Haruka was in a surprised state to answer immediately. Then, realizing that she had been staring for too long, she answered, "I just wanted to give this to you. Ichinose-san had it, and he told me that it was yours." She went out of the bathroom to place the CD on her bed. "Excuse me now..."

Hirano was silent. Funny, Nanami didn't even notice the fact that her glasses were off...

She got up, closing and locking the door.

Hirano mentally noted in her head some things she'll need for this project. _Saotome's permission, not to get caught by the rest, especially Mikaze-san...I'll need more bottles of hair dye, some shampoo, a personal towel, some,_ she shuddered, _sparkly flashy outfits..._

She hoped she knew what she was doing.

Washing her hands, she took a pill.

* * *

Wearing a blue-haired wig, Hirano was found typing on her laptop, with her glasses, hoodie, and her favorite low-heeled boots. Tokiya had found her there.

She didn't look up when she briskly asked, "Did you hear it?"

Tokiya knew exactly what she implied. His lips drew a thin line, as the room felt chilly all of a sudden. "...And if I did?"

Hirano, for what seemed like the thousandth time in her mind, froze. She stopped typing for a minute, her mind slightly blank. Though, she couldn't expect any less, since she would've listened to it as well if she was Tokiya.

"Ichinose-san."

Tokiya was the one who froze at this. It sounded almost _exactly_ like the way Haruka would talk to him, just quicker and sharper. But the pitch and all—there was no difference that could be heard.

"Oi, Ichinose."

His vague expression sharpened, his attention now on the irked bluehead in front of him, on his bed for the time being. "Y-Yes?"

His voice cracked. Hirano heard it, as she cocked a brow. Shaking that moment off, she questioned, "What will you do with this sort of information, knowing how my voice works and my style of music?"

"Hirano-san," Tokiya decided to risk, expecting a reaction in his head, "it sounds very angelic, which I didn't expect. As well as the sound...it sounded very much like Nanami-san's."

Tokiya didn't realize it when he held his breath. As for Hirano, her eyes widened behind her glasses, her lips parting as if she was about to gasp. Though, she didn't.

"Well then...oh, heck, how do I know what I should be saying now!" she unintentionally shouted, surprising the both of them. "Would you...ah! Would you just stop comparing myself to Haruka!? Haruka this, Aoi that, well, I'm tired of it! Why do all of you do that? The way you look at me, it's like you guys analyze me or something, and compare it to Haruka! Well, I'm NOT HER!"

She shut her laptop vigorously. Tokiya's mind then was so confused at it all that he just stood there, taken aback. Then, his eyes narrowed. "Hirano-san, there's no point of becoming mad. It doesn't solve a thing—"

"I wouldn't _be_ mad if it wasn't for you guys," Hirano muttered, but it was heard. Tokiya then felt _extra_ guilty.

Hoping that he wouldn't die after doing this, he walked towards her and sat on his bed, right beside where she was. "Hirano-san, you aren't like anyone I've ever met in my entire life," he said to her.

Her eyes refused to look at him, being closed shut, but she was listening silently.

"Yes, you are very much like Nanami-san. You sound like her, yet stricter and more blunt. You're the same height as her, yet you're usually taller because you wear heels. Your music is much like her's, but it conveys a different meaning. And so...you are not like her. You aren't her. You're Hirano Aoi."

Looking away, he patted her head. Hirano's eyes snapped open in pure shock, as her head whipped to him in a motion that caused her glasses to fall off. Her hand was about to cover her eyes, as the other would pick up her glasses, but Tokiya beat her to it and forced her hand down, looking into her eyes.

"Don't say it," she warned, "or else..."

Blue eyes widened.

"I said, don't say it."

"It's..."

"_Don't say it_."

It was golden, hypnotizing, with an alluring orange tint and a cat green pupil in the middle. Tokiya made no mistake.

While he was distracted, she picked up her glasses quickly and perched it on her nose, covering the hue completely. "Die, you..."

Then, Tokiya looked straight into her eyes, ignoring the glasses. "Hirano-san...who are you?"

"Would that benefit your knowledge in any way?"

"It would."

Hirano tightened her grip on her jacket cords, a habit she had. Fumbling with it, she looked away. "What did you want here?" she suddenly asked.

Tokiya had to go along with it, as if nothing happened. Though, he didn't want to forget this moment for future reasons. "You need to eat with us."

"Who's 'us'?"

"STARISH, QUARTET NIGHT, Nanami-san, and a few guests." He sighed tiredly at the 'guests' part, though he seemed already bummed at eating with his fellow bandmates, and his annoying senpais.

"I'm not hungry. Go away."

"I don't want to eat with them either, but you're going."

Hirano glared hard. "Make me."

She could be childish, but she was proud of it.

* * *

Hirano Aoi didn't think she'd be sitting in a chair, before her a long table filled with food with STARISH, QUARTET NIGHT, Nanami Haruka, and...

"Hi everyone~! Oh, there's a new face! Who are you, sweetie?"

"I'm sorry for Tsukimiya's outdoor voice, he's just very excited."

"Ah! Haruka, you didn't tell me that you had a critic!"

"I was about to, Tomo-chan..."

"Ho, ho, _HO!_ This is _nice_!"

"What is the meaning of this, Saotome!" Hirano suddenly exclaimed, standing up. "I didn't come here for a party, I came here to eat! Instead, I see all of these people here, conversing about things I don't want to know about for it's not necessary to know by any means, and most importantly," she pointed at the food,

"WHY IS THIS AMERICAN FOOD!?"

Natsuki blinked. "What's wrong about American food, Ao-chan?"

Hirano twitched violently. "Since when did I allow you to call me 'Ao-chan'?"

Tsukimiya Ringo squealed beside Shibuya Tomochika. "Such a feisty girl! I love her sass!"

"So cute~!"

"What..." Hirano sat back down, her eyes blank.

"Tomo-chan! This is Hirano Aoi, she's new!" Haruka introduced for the bluehead, who was struck dumb by this meeting.

A man Hirano had researched one time was sitting beside her, glancing at her pitifully. "I'm sorry about this, but here in the Master Course dorms, anything could happen."

"You're darn right it could," she groaned, rubbing her temple in irritation.

"If it helps, my name is Hyuga Ryuya," he said, rubbing his orange-blond hair. "The man with the oversized yellow sweater and woman wig is Tsukimiya Ringo, and that redhead with the purple eyes is Shibuya Tomochika."

"Well then, I'm Hirano Aoi," she spoke back, shaking his hand politely. She was pretending that no one was to her right, who was Ichinose Tokiya, incidentally.

"May I ask why you seem to dislike American food?"

Hirano sighed, "Oh, that. I don't know what it is with it, but I always feel like I'm eating nothing nutritious whenever I eat a burger with some fries, or something."

"What do you prefer eating? We can ask the chefs here," Hyuga offered.

"If it's not too much trouble, I can go with Italian, maybe Mexican or Indian. Oh..." She thought of something, and she scratched her head. "My favorite is Filipino cuisine, though I rarely have it."

"Filipino, huh? I've had it once as well. It's very nice," he said with a smile. "Though, I don't know if the chefs know how to cook that. Perhaps you're interested in ratatouille?"

Mythia the Author makes that a lot, and it's surprisingly easy and really good!

Hirano smiled a little. She liked food, but she didn't eat excessively. But seriously, who didn't like food? Thus, she nodded, and was ordered a special meal.

When it came, it was ginormous. No way could she eat all of that...

So everyone took a serving. Hirano took two because she didn't eat the entire day and her stomach was secretly shouting at her, instead of a low, grizzly growl.

"Wow, wow!" Ringo was dreamily cupping his hands on his cheeks. "Hirano-chan has such excellent taste! Well done, sweetheart!"

"But I didn't do anything," Hirano said with a quizzical face.

"He speaks as if he's idiotically drunk sometimes," Hyuga said with a sigh. "I got used to it. You will too, I'm sure."

Syo was picking out the eggplants, as was Hirano, which was pretty funny to Natsuki. "Syo-chan, can I eat your eggplants? Can I, oh can I?" he excitedly asked him.

"Knock yourself out." Syo handed the plate to him, and Natsuki ate it.

"Ne, Ao-chan! Can I eat your eggplants?"

"No."

"Eh? But you won't eat them, will you?"

"I won't be."

"So you shouldn't put it to waste!"

Hirano played with her jacket cords, pushing the plate to the tall blonde in defeat. "Fine, go ahead. I suppose you can—"

"Thanks, Ao-chan!"

She muttered, "Don't call me that..."

"Hey Hira!" Reiji exclaimed. "This food is awesome! You've got good taste too!"

_Too?_ Hirano wondered. She glanced at Ranmaru, who ate critically. Then, she clicked two and two together. _Oh_.

Camus was also eating it with caution, trying it for the first time. After the first bite, his speed quickened, but not so fast. Mikaze as well dubbed it 'good,' which was better than 'passable.'

Tomo and Haruka were talking to each other excitedly, not speaking in a long while. Tokiya spoke with Masato, who was beside him. Syo was shoving leftovers to Natsuki like he was a dog.

Ittoki and Ren though, they stared at Hirano.

_Hirano eats so wonderfully, ahh...wait, what am I thinking? No, no! That, this is like I'm stalking her! I can't let her think I'm creepy! Though, will she ever allow me to call her by her first name? Hm..._ Quietly, Ittoki muttered, "Aoi." The lingering feeling of testing the name felt right.

_Why is this lost lamb so interesting to me? Just like the little lamb, huh?_ It was then he heard Ittoki mutter beside him, "Aoi." He smirked.

"Hey, Ikki. You thinking about a certain someone?"

Ittoki embarrassedly blushed. "U-Uhm, well, ah, um, eh..." He was making incoherent sentences, sputtering random words that weren't even words.

Ren finally elbowed him. "Hirano is something else, yet...you know."

"Who is she...?"

"You're thinking the same thing?" Ren asked, surprised. "Like her name isn't really Hirano Aoi?"

Ittoki nodded, his blush still in place like it was two minutes ago. "Hey, d-do you think she's warming up to us?"

"I think her guard is even more up whenever we praise her, question her, help her, or mention the little lamb."

"You mean Nanami?" Ittoki thought about this. "You're right, that's something I didn't realize up till now."

They both were still staring at Hirano. After a while, the bluehead's hidden eyes shifted to the two, realizing that they were watching her this entire time. Then, when the two felt her gaze upon them, they averted their eyes elsewhere. Ittoki whistled nervously, and Ren sighed at the redhead's stupidity.

Then, Hirano stood up. "I'm thankful for all of this, but I want to get going," she spoke clearly for all to hear. "I apologize for my ungrateful outburst earlier..."

This surprised STARISH and Haruka, for they never heard her apologize. It was so formal. Even QUARTET NIGHT was slightly stunned, and so the chatting ceased, and the world felt still.

Then, when Saotome asked to speak with her privately, the two entered a small empty room.

"Nanami Hirari, I saw through the cameras, and know what you're doing," Saotome spoke in his usual slurred language. Just, not so loud.

Hirano, whose real name is Hirari, cocked a brow. "You have cameras in the _bathroom_?"

_"No!_ But I do have some in the bedroom!" Saotome began to shout in his booming voice. "When Nanami opened the door, I saw you in the bathroom through the cameras dying your hair. Tell me your plans."

She inhaled a calm breath. "I want to switch my personality. The others I'm starting to feel are getting too attached to 'Hirano Aoi,' and you know the 'NO LOVE' rule. Also, I just...I'm getting suspicions. They're looking at me with a curious look. They're wondering who I _really_ am. Thus, I ask of you to approve of my plan."

"Do you think this is good?" Saotome leaned forward, inches from Hirano's face. "Or do you think you're running away now?"

She did a double take. "What? No! There's no way I'm running! I'm just..." She looked away, saying, "I need more time. I need to find the right moment to reveal this. I want to let Haruka off slowly and carefully. I can't just bluntly tell her, 'Hey sis, I'm your long lost sister that you thought of as dead, here to be your critic and co-composer.' See? Absurd I tell you."

Saotome shrugged. "Whatever you see it! Since this will be interesting, and I'm very intrigued by your way of thinking, I approve!"

Hirano smiled, and bowed. "Thank you, Saotome."

* * *

As Reiji, Otoya, and Tokiya headed back into their dorm room, they realized that Hirano wasn't there. "Where do you think she is?" Ittoki asked with worry.

"I have her contact number from Saotome," Tokiya said as he dialed. A buzz erupted from the bag being fenced in the corner of the room. "Why is that fenced..."

Reiji pouted. "Hira is so private! _Mou_!"

"Let's just go to sleep then," Tokiya spoke, and headed to the bathroom, into the shower. When he went inside, he saw a little yellow dried liquid dot on the side of the sink. He squinted, and saw that it was hair dye.

"Good night, Otoyan! Have a good showering life, Toki!" Reiji exclaimed, snoring away in his side of the room. "Good night, Hira! Love you!"

Ittoki blushed, sitting upright from his bed. "Who said I love Hirano? I don't love her! It's complicated!" Registering afterwards, he blushed even harder and fell back into his bed, trying to sleep as if he was just sleep talking. Which is even more embarrassing.

When Tokiya finished showering and dried his hair off, he sat on his bed, the lower bunk. It was then he noticed the laptop on the edge, practically telling him to open it and snoop around.

Yet, he ignored it and mumbled, "I've had enough snooping."

But he did anyway.

Hirano's laptop asked for a password. "Of course." Closing it, he fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Saotome ordered QUARTET NIGHT, STARISH, and Haruka in the living room, introducing a blonde-haired girl with blue contacts in her eyes, "KIDO NAGISA!"

"Hello, everyone! Nice to meet you! Call me Ki-chan, Nagi-chan, or Ki-ki~!"

The reaction to this?

"WHAAAAAT?"

* * *

**Mythia: Just so you know, I finally had an idea, and spent 2-3 hours writing this. I'm really enjoying this now, and I know where I want to take this. I can see the ending, and how to get to it, phew. :)**

**Thanks for reading! Please review, they inspired me to keep going!**


	10. Kurosaki no Kido

**Myth: Hello! I hope you unexpectedly enjoyed the plot twist my sister Mia put in there on my last update! You can call me Myth, but I'm called Sia. Though, Myth is better here for the following reasons I'm sure you can figure out without me having to type it down.**

**If you don't know, Mia and I are twins. :)**

**So, about the plot twist...it surprised you all, hasn't it? When I read the update for approval, I was so utterly surprised and I loved how Tomo, Ringo, Hyuga, and Saotome were in there, along with the personality switch (Mia also owns an UtaPri fanfic called, 'Personality Mood Switch') to Kido Nagisa—it was an automatic yes on my half.**

**I'm very thankful for all of your lovely reviews and support. I never would've thought, since OC stories aren't that popular, that you'd like this story that much. But all of these faves and follows are telling me otherwise. ;)**

**Mia: Yo, I'll be writing this one, and the others with Kido! Since she's a lot like my little sister (13 yrs) and I. So enjoy!**

* * *

X: Kurosaki no Kido

"I gave Mizz Hee-Raa-Noo a breakkko," Saotome said with his booming slurred voice. "She wanted to quit, but instead agreed to be laid off for a while."

"Why would she _want_ to quit?" Syo demanded, not sure how he should react but deciding to let his emotions speak for itself.

Kido jumped up and down with a wide smile across her face. "Ooh, ooh! Well, Hira-chan said that you all are talking on and on about this girl I'll be working with now, and that there were a _bunch_ of songs that she had and wanted to work on but couldn't, because you all are so clingy to her, accusing random things. And as her best friend, who _was_ affected by the Happy Pulse but you know, best friends come first, I'll be lending her a hand! I know just as much about music as she does, and I know _all_ of her secrets, and I mean—"

"Would you please _stop talking!_?" Ranmaru groaned, scoffing and turning his head away.

Kido frowned. "Just for that, you will definitely _not_ get Hira-chan's song for you that she left for me to give to you. Oh! Hey, I think it was...you!" She pointed at Mikaze, "Hira-chan told me that you can have her song that you put lyrics in! Aw, I want to hear it...okay, change of plans! _You_ tell me the meaning of love, and I'll give you the approval instead! Ha, ha! How about that?"

Mikaze closed his eyes. _That's Hirano Aoi, no doubt_, he thought. _Her facial features, those critical and overlooking eyes, despite the unnatural blueness and fake happiness. The layered hair that stopped on her chest, and it was obviously dyed yellow. Those small lips, those very faint freckles, that sharp yet soft nose, that pale skin...that height...it's Hirano Aoi. So why is she calling herself Kido Nagisa?_

_ Her hair..._ Tokiya's eyes narrowed. He suddenly remembered dried hair dye on the sink in his dorm room. _Her hair's dyed. Her eyebrows were dyed too then._

"I think I'll give _you_ your song first!" Kido proudly said, pointing at Camus. "Because you seem polite and well-mannered."

"Eh? What about me?" Reiji asked.

"You seem like a goof," she bluntly replied with a mischievous grin. "I'll work with you after I work with Mr. Emotionless here." Her index moved to Mikaze, who seemed as monotonously unemotional as ever. "He's second!"

_ What goes through Mikaze-senpai's brain?_ STARISH wondered.

Kido pulled out a small box and popped it open, drawing out a sugary sweet. "Mm, Turkish Delight!" she hummed, licking a powdery finger. "Want one?"

Natsuki beamed. "Yeah, I do!" Chewing it in his mouth, his face sparkled. "It tastes amazing!"

"Of _course_ it does!" the blonde girl whispered loudly. "I bring them everywhere with me, because fructose, glucose, sucrose, etc. etc. help me because I use up a _lot_ of my energy, and most of them is from my talking but anyways—"

"SHUT UP!" Ranmaru bemoaned. "You're so annoying!"

Kido shrugged. "Hm. Hira-chan got used to it."

_She did!?_ Syo wondered. _But she's…she's so annoying! How is _she _her best friend, being this annoying, while none of us could be called 'acquaintances' by her?_

"Okay, as I was saying," spoke Kido, slightly more seriously, "_I _am Hira-chan's best friend, thus I know her. Her favorite color is teal, her favorite drink is chamomile tea, favorite animal is a cat, book is _Romeo and Juliet_, and—wait, I think it's _Beauty and the Beast_ now…but her favorite anime is definitely _La Corda D'Oro_! Music means so much to her, almost as much as—oops! I almost gave it away, ha!"

As she was giggling, Mikaze and Tokiya's eyes just kept narrowing to the point where it looked like slits. Masato was also wondering something. _I was never very close to Hirano, but...she looks very much like her_, he thought. _Could it be...?_

He shook his head. _No, that's impossible. Hirano-san could never speak like this, revealing her skin like that...she's too concealed and private. Perhaps she has a personality disorder? It's well possible, from the time that I got to know her, which wasn't much but I still can't count that out._

_This little pest_, Ranmaru thought. _I want to leave and get the hell away from her._

"Hm...you guys look kind of depressed," Kido commented. "I'm almost tempted to make another frowny face! But..." She tried frowning again, but it ended up in a pout.

Just then, Haruka's eyes widened. "H-Hold on," she squeaked out, surprising the group. "May I ask...how did you meet Hirano-san?"

"Eh?" Kido wasn't expecting that. "Ehe, um, well...I uh, well, ahem."

Silence filled the room, as they all awaited for her answer. Even Saotome was smirking inside, wondering how Hirano would get out of this, and what _Kido_ would do instead.

"...Why'd you ask?"

"Oh, is it private? I'm sorry—"

"No, no! It's not! You see, Hira-chan and I got off the wrong foot the first time we met."

Everyone had the same thought on this. _That makes sense._

Kido continued, "My mom wanted me to run some errands one Saturday when I was twelve, and I got some hot tea on the way because I wasn't allowed to drink coffee. Then, BAM! I spilled it all over Hira-chan!" Making unnecessary hand motions, she resumed once more, "Because it was hot, I practically dragged her to the nearest hospital. The burns weren't _that _bad but it was still terrible! Then, while I was humming a random tune, Hira-chan starting making lyrics with that tune. Sure it wasn't _amazing_ but it was pretty great!"

"That memory must be vivid," Ren remarked. _Though this girl's got to be the only one that thinks that the lost lamb's music isn't hypnotizing, or moving at all._

He had his suspicions.

"She wore bandages on her hands, but then later on when I said she could take them off, she refused to! Hm, wonder why?" Kido shrugged it off. "But anyway, I liked the fashion, which is why I wear GLOVES~!"

Ittoki stared at the gloves. They weren't like Hirano's, which was silvery and black. It was fingerless and fashionable.

Then, he decided to take in her appearance. Curly golden locks, wide blue eyes that looked like the ocean, white cream-colored tank top, denim shorts up her thigh and wedged heels that zipped up to her knees in black thread-like style. Her skin was smooth and she was small. But then Ittoki realized something.

_Her height is almost exactly like Hirano's?_

"So yeah, we were connected by _music_~!" Hirano summed up. "Our first meeting was terrible, completely horrific! But we respected each other's styles of music at the time. Hira-chan can play the piano beautifully, a bit sad I guess, but there was a time where she was super duper duper duper HAPPY!"

"Wait, what?" Syo didn't mean to say that aloud. But hey, someone ought to say it, because it was in QUARTET NIGHT's and STARISH's mind.

"Yeah! You see, she ran away from home a LOOOONNG time ago, and changed her name into a new identity," Kido decided to say, because she had to stay in character. Let them be suspicious all they want of Hirano, because for some reason, girls who push people away are actually enticing their curiosity and reeling them in.

Realizing this mistake just recently, Hirano decided to become one crazy lunatic, all about rainbows and drama and comedy and etc. But at the same time, she's going to say "Himitsu" a whole lot.

She's got to keep herself secret, after all.

"Why'd she do that?" Reiji asked.

"Because she could take care of herself or something. I don't know. I'm not her, so how would I know?"

Mikaze just kept staring at Kido. "According to my data," he suddenly spoke, surprising some people, "your information is very private and limited as well as Hirano Aoi's. I'd like to know about that instead of her."

"Ehh? Really? But I'm not that interesting, and Kuro-kun already doesn't like me~"

Ranmaru twitched. "...'Kuro-kun'? You're messed up."

"Then what does that make you?" asked Kido. If it sounded menacing, Ranmaru could actually be scared. If it sounded like she was teasing or mocking him, he couldn't help it. He'd punch her pretty little f*ked up face.

But she said it in such a teasing, happy-go-lucky manner, that everyone just deadpanned.

But Ranmaru was pissed.

"Teme—"

"Now, now Ran-Ran! Ki-Ki was about to tell us something!" Reiji playfully scolded. Ranmaru shut up, because Kido had to be a girl and hurting her could easily be put on TV, saying how bad he was. That'd affect him and his reputation, not to mention QUARTET NIGHT.

"Aw, how cute! Kiki...though, you can call me Nagi-chan if you like~!"

The name coursed something through STARISH and their composer. "I don't think I'll be calling you that, sorry," Haruka mumbled. It was heard.

"Huh? Why?"

"..."

"...OHHHH. Is it because of Mikado-kun? I call him Kado-kun." Kido smiled at this. "It does sound like 'Kido,' ne? Kado, Kido, Nagi, Nagisa...plus, we share a lot in common!"

Syo inwardly groaned at this.

Then, suddenly, Saotome departed. And strangely, no one noticed until five minutes later.

Kido asked, "Does he do that often?"

"You'll get used to it."

"..."

* * *

Unfortunately for Ranmaru, Kido was to do the same as what Hirano did—switch between dorm rooms. It didn't even make sense, there were like, fifty empty dorm rooms around the Master Course. So _why_ did Kido and Hirano have to sleep in the BOYS side, and in their ROOMS?

The most unfortunate and sickening part for him was the fact that she had to sleep in his room first. On _his_ side of the freaking room.

And because Saotome was _oh so_ busy, he couldn't disturb him, or call him, or anything.

There was Ittoki, who was somewhat like Kido, but he was tolerable. In fact, he didn't even have to pay much attention to him. There was Masato and Ren he had to watch.

Then, there's Reiji. He could be a living hell, and ridiculous, and annoying, and pestering, and overall a perverted thorn in the bushes. But Ranmaru had to get used to the guy. And he did.

He never wanted to experience having to get used to that kind of person ever again.

Yet _no_, wherever Lady Luck may be, she probably didn't exist in his world. "I hate this."

Mumbling angrily to himself, he walked among the halls of the Master course, pinching the bridge of his nose every now and then. Yeah, he knew that Kido was just a replacement, but it could certainly be a fiery pit for him until Hirano came back.

Speaking of Hirano, he was wondering where she was, on a nice, LONG break in the bahamas probably, sipping some fresh cold lemonade and getting her feet massaged. However did she convince Saotome, that after freaking 2 DAYS of working in the Master course, had she just get some time of freedom, away from them and music for a bit.

"I hate her."

He meant Hirano. Ranmaru preferred her over Kido, but she was still someone on his 'get away from' list.

Let's see his list now!

GET AWAY FROM:

1\. Kido Nagisa

2\. Hirano Aoi (not that she'd be here much anytime soon)

3\. Rainbows

4\. Cupcakes

5\. Kotobuki Reiji (as much as possible, but he's my bandmate so only if you can)

6\. Camus (he disagrees with EVERYTHING I bother to say)

7\. Mikaze Ai (he knows almost everything about you...he can se through your soul...)

8\. STARISH (because of how annoying they all are, minus Ichinose because he's serious)

9\. Fangirls (they're almost as annoying as STARISH)

10\. Sluts (self-explanatory)

11\. The Color Pink

12\. EVERYTHING ELSE

Hm, if you couldn't tell already...Ranmaru's—

"More tsun-tsun than dere! Hm, where's the tsundere in you?"

"Shut up. Go away."

"That's not how you treat a girl, is it?" Kido tilted her head, because Ranmaru was tall and she wasn't even 5'3", so she couldn't exactly see his eyes. The purple one was popping out though. "You don't seem like a mean person, Kuro-kun."

"Shut up and get away from me."

Kido ignored him and continued on, "You sure look like one high school delinquent, but we both know that you're older than that." She smiled, which wasn't crazy at all when Ranmaru bothered to think about it for barely a second. In fact, she was kind of calm.

"What do you want?"

"I just want to see your passionate side," Kido responded. "I know that's what makes you Kurosaki Ranmaru! You have a soft heart for music, and love it very much, I can tell! But why is it that you've forgotten?"

Ranmaru looked at her with no comment. He was just surprised inside that she thought of him as 'passionate' and 'soft for music.' Sure, he liked music, in fact he loved it...

"You're someone I really like as a fellow musician. Working with all of you is a dream...sort of come true, but anyway..." Kido looked straight into Ranmaru's eyes. "Kuro-kun, you've got some issues."

"Huh. What about you then? You're annoying, a pest, and have endless issues I can't even begin to list," Ranmaru retorted.

At this, Hirano wanted to come out and retort herself in some snide comment. But she wanted to be Kido, and STAY as Kido, for a while at least. _Hang in there,_ she thought. So she strained a pained smile. "That's not very nice."

"I don't care."

"I'm a girl."

"That doesn't make a difference in my world."

"Can't you at least give a d*n?"

Ranmaru blinked. The girl cussed. And behind those cheeky smiles and sugar, she's got some spice.

"Oi. Kuro-kun? Maybe...maybe you should take some anger management classes. Maybe go to a counselor sometime—"

"I'm too busy for that, and I don't need one. You're so stupid."

"If I'm stupid, then you have peas for brains," Kido spoke with a smile. "I'm a genius, Kuro-kun. Because no one's noticed yet."

"Noticed what."

"That Hirano's not coming back." Kido made a cute smirk at this, giggling endlessly, and skipping into the halls.

* * *

**Mythia: I know what I'm doing, yet I want to update regularly, so if that happens, the chapters will be shorter and it'll have different things going on. I hope that's okay.**

**Please, don't hesitate to drop a review. They're really nice, and let me know of your personal thoughts and opinions. A writer can always improve somewhere, so if you can say anything of the kind, you know?**

**Kurosaki Ranmaru wasn't too hard to write surprisingly. So that was pretty cool, I guess, since I never really focused on him much throughout this story. Camus and Masato too. Oh, and Cecil. Those four will be around Kido.**

**Mikaze, Tokiya, Ittoki, Ren, and Syo are still hung up on Hirano. The rest, being Reiji, Ranmaru, Camus, Cecil, Masato, and Natsuki, maybe I'll throw in HEAVENS soon, are in Kido's care. Though, there's going to be more ego switching because I'm insane.**

**So please, review! If you have the time. :)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	11. I Don't Love You

**Mythia: Um...well, at first I took my time writing this story. But then, something happened...but seriously, I want to finish this fanfic if it kills me. I want to at least finish _something_.**

**This fic will be at least 20 or so chapters long, so it's not going to be too long...so for Fan who said that I was rushing things a little, well, I knew that more well than you think.**

**I mean it, I'm not going to swear again on this (except for 'hell.' It's not always bad). It pains me a lot...**

**Thank you for your reviews, seriously. I'm grateful! And y****es, this story will continue. I can't think of putting this down when I'm still going over things. When it's finished, I might rewrite it for you guys if you want.**

**So um...Are You Ready?**

* * *

XI: I Don't Love You

Hirano Aoi, or Kido Nagisa, slapped her head.

Well, _that_ was dumb. What had gone in her head when she ever-so proudly stated to _Kurosaki Ranmaru_ (of all people!) that Hirano wasn't coming back? She _had_ to, or else others will get suspicious! And the _way_ she said it, it was like Hirano was dead or something.

It was like her own gun at her head. _Bam_.

She needed to think before speaking. However, Kido says whatever, as if she was high on sugar.

So, in an attempt to calm herself down, she had someone drive her to the nearest pharmacy to pick up her prescription. Having a pill with some water, her blood was no longer tasted on her tongue.

What a sickly person Kido was. The Nanami twins were sick when they were born, except one of them threw up blood for seventeen years while the other had breathing issues that stopped at fourteen.

_Haruka's innocent, kind, considerate, and oddly compelling, _Kido thought. _While I'm confusing, hyper, scary, and a big fat liar_.

Sighing, her mind clouded, as she exited the car and found the nearest couch in the Master Course dorms, catching some sleep and dropping the bag of medicine. She didn't listen to the woman when she warned her that the pills had a sleeping dose with it.

Kido would seem like the hyper yet sleepy person...

* * *

Ranmaru was having a break from listening to music, bored out of his mind at how he had no work that day. So he lounged at random spots, watching television for a while, then playing his beloved bass until his fingers didn't feel like playing anymore.

Sure, he loved music. But if you do the same thing for a while, it gets uninteresting, right?

Walking around, he caught Kido lying on the couch, all curled up with her eyes closed. On the floor was a medicine bag from a pharmacy he'd pass by sometimes, because near it was a coffee shop. Eyeing it without much thought, he picked it up and looked at what she got.

Kido had pills.

Ranmaru glanced at her sleeping figure again in curiosity. "Are you sick or something?" he asked quietly, mostly to himself. Kido's long lashes flickered slightly at the sound. "Sensitive."

Examining the pills again, he scanned the words on the surrounding paper. When he read about the sleeping dose, he just assumed that they were sleeping pills, and dropped them back in the bag.

Since he had nothing else to do, he sat beside Kido, who didn't use much of the couch space. Ranmaru leaned back, enjoying the silence. STARISH was out for an all-day concert since two in the afternoon, Reiji went with them to watch, Mikaze was doing whatever research he did in his dorm room, and he didn't care what Camus did. In fact, he didn't care about what any of them were doing.

Though he knew Nanami was starting to compose again.

After a few minutes, Kido shifted, sleeping on her back. It was then that Ranmaru noticed that her eyelashes weren't blonde.

They were the color of Nanami's hair. But he didn't think about that.

"She doesn't wear makeup?"

It was weird to him, because he thought the entire day, Kido wore makeup. But she didn't. "So you're a natural beauty, huh?"

Ranmaru scoffed, finding himself ridiculous over a girl with no makeup. What did that matter to him?

Suddenly, Camus was in his sight, and he audibly groaned. Camus pretended that his presence was elsewhere, and continued walking, until his icy blue eyes landed on Kido, sleeping with her feet touching Ranmaru's foreleg. Sharply glancing over, his eyes captured Ranmaru's, demanding an explanation without speaking.

Ranmaru didn't answer, glaring at him.

So Camus was forced to speak. "What is she doing here, in this state? She's supposed to begin composing."

Dual-colored eyes stared dryly at him. "I found her here, and sat down."

"Why would you do that?" he demanded, but not loudly. He _had_ decency.

"Why do you care?"

Camus paused for barely a second, before turning away. "You're right, I don't. However, that girl's sickly. You shouldn't be around her."

That's when Ranmaru suddenly felt...interested. "Sickly how?"

Camus didn't want to answer.

"Hey, I'm talking to you."

He sighed, exasperated easily. "Her prescription. Mikaze learned of Kido's condition, where her lungs are sensitive. She throws up and coughs out blood."

Ranmaru's eyes widened without warning. He instinctively looked at Kido, who shifted again to her side. Though...even though he didn't know Hirano well, didn't she have the same condition?

That either meant that Hirano _was_ Kido, or...

"Kido lied about how she met Hirano."

"That is the stupidest thing I've heard from you, peasant."

Ranmaru twitched. "Oi, I was never born stupid."

"Only stupid people would say that."

"Why, you—"

"Nn..." Kido rubbed her head, but stayed asleep. Camus sent a warning glance to Ranmaru, who instinctively shut up without looking at the count.

The Master Course was quiet for the first time in a long time. Maybe this really _was_ the first time. Because they both knew that when STARISH comes back, or when Kido wakes up...

Chaos. Utter chaos.

* * *

Mikaze closed the tabs on his computer and stood up from his chair, intending to find Kido and speak to her about her ego change. As he walked out, he noticed the silence too. "How strange," he muttered. Then, he remembered that STARISH, Haruka, and Reiji were out on a concert.

There was no music heard, so Kido definitely wasn't playing a song. Mikaze wondered if her music would change as she herself did.

_"Only stupid people would say that."_

_"Why, you—"_

Mikaze was annoyed slightly at the hushed quarreling of his bandmates' voices. But he knew this was completely normal.

Then, he heard Kido moaning. Things went through his head, and he followed the voices. Naturally, this led to the lounge room, where Ranmaru was sitting beside a sleeping Kido, with Camus leaning on the couch across from where the other two sat.

"According to my data," said Mikaze suddenly, causing the latter to turn to him, "Kido has just gotten her prescription."

"What about it?" Ranmaru questioned in a bored manner, though he was a little interested.

"I want to see it," was what he said before walking up and casually grabbing the pill bottle. Reading the label, he just muttered and muttered. "Ah. I see. How interesting."

His face was still his usual emotionless self, so Ranmaru didn't know whether to be bothered by it or not. So he grunted. "What? What's 'Ah, I see'? Hey, I'm talking to you Ai!"

"You won't find it very intriguing," he bluntly said.

"I would," said Camus. "Now, tell me of the information you've just discovered or else I'll freeze your brain."

Mikaze held his poker face, turning around to Camus and telling him anyway because he knew keeping it from him wasn't worth a thing. "Her prescription is very similar to Hirano Aoi's," he said. "Though, this one's a better version of what Hirano would usually take."

"Are you implying that Kido's _Hirano_?" Ranmaru questioned with a scoff. "How can she be? They don't even look a thing alike. Their personalities are polar opposite I tell you, and don't get me started on which one pisses me off more—"

"She is Hirano," Camus interrupted, making Ranmaru ball up a fist and punch the couch. Because of the rough movement, Kido bolted upright and stared for what seemed like forever at the dual-eyed bass guitarist.

For a split second, Ranmaru saw that look of annoyance and hatred, something he had a feeling Hirano would wear on her face. But then that completely vanished, and was replaced with a cheeky, closed-eye grin and a peace sign.

"Hey-yo Kuro-kun!"

"What?" For a moment, he just sat there. Then, his rage decided to come for a visit. "Oi, Kido! Have respect to your senpai!"

"Eh?" Kido tilted her head, refusing to let go her cheekiness. "Since when were you my senpai now?"

"Since—wait, what? Argh!" Ranmaru just stood up. "You're too much, you know that!? I'm out of here!" He stomped away after the words were said.

"Hm..." Kido glanced over at Camus and Mikaze, and noticed quickly how the latter held her pills. "Oh, that's no touchy-touchy! It isn't yours, Mr. Cat. Curious and sly."

That hardly fitted Mikaze at all.

Kido simply took the pills from Mikaze's cold hands and asked him a question. "Hey Mr. Emotionless, why was Kuro-kun next to me?"

Camus replied instead, "Because he has a crush on you." It was immature of him, he knew, but he wanted Ranmaru to suffer. Naturally.

"Oh. Wait, _really_!?" Kido exclaimed, slightly stunning the count. "B-But, isn't there that 'NO LOVE' rule thing? Shouldn't you guys follow that? We all are under that rule, so tell your bandmate that I'm not interested and that I don't like breaking rules!"

"Hirano."

"Yeah—" Kido stopped. It slipped, and she knew it full well. "Oh snap."

"So you _are_ Hirano Aoi," Camus remarked, though his eyes showed aftershock. "This makes me wonder why you're dressing like that and acting like a fool."

Kido blinked. "What?"

"Would you drop your disguise please," Mikaze spoke. "It is very unfitting for you and you should stop making up lies."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mister Emotio—"

"Enough of your blabbering, peasant. Now," his staff was flung, and the tip where the blue diamond was stopped right between Kido's sky blue eyes, "Explain to us about what you're doing in that foolish getup."

Kido ran silent, and refused to answer. It had only been the morning since Kido Nagisa was revealed, and already, she was found out by two of the QUARTET NIGHT members. Seeing that it happened to be those two though, she decided to come clean. There was no place to hide anyway from them, being so insistent and imprudent...

She slumped her shoulders and fell onto the couch. "Too many of them were interested in me," she decided to say in her careless yet sharp tone. She was Hirano. "I couldn't afford that. I came here specifically for composing and criticizing your music performances; that was all. Then the others happened to, well, they..."

It wasn't often that Hirano couldn't find any words to say.

"You believe they're interested in you?" Camus asked. "As a love interest?"

"I might be very wrong," Hirano muttered loud enough for them to hear. "However, I couldn't take any chances."

"Is this really the reason why you became this Kido Nagisa?" questioned Mikaze.

Hirano stood up and dusted off her shorts. Laughing humorlessly, she said, "No. I was also bored of being the one who pushes people away, only for them to freaking cling to you and watch whatever thing you do back. Besides that, I was being quite the rude one, and wanted to change that."

"Into some annoying peasant that cannot ever keep her mouth shut?"

"Exactly. Being annoying turns everyone off...right?"

The three were quietly thinking for a moment in the room. The next question asked was expected: "Are you going to tell now?"

"Does Shining Saotome know?" asked Mikaze.

"He does. Of course he has to. After all, he is still our boss," Hirano reasoned. She cleared her throat, and just like that, she became Kido again. "Keep it a secret, okay? It's a secret between the three of us~!" After that, she skipped into the halls, and disappeared from sight.

Mikaze was still thinking, having Camus look at him. "What is in your mind?"

"I want to confirm Saotome's knowledge is all," Mikaze spoke, and walked away as well. Camus, having nothing to do, walked to his room to eat his afternoon dessert.

* * *

After a little while, Mikaze entered the music room, finding Kido playing Winter Blossom on the piano. It was wonderful as usual to listen to, though it had a different feel to it. It was no longer sad, but more of something else...

Then, she abruptly stopped.

"Where'd those lyrics come from?" he heard her wonder aloud as Hirano. "Why did they sound so...fond? Sung from the heart? Whereas Mikaze-san...he's..."

"Not human," Mikaze finished, as he sat on the chair across from where Kido sat.

"W-Wha? Oh, it's just you Mr. Emotionless!" Kido forced a smile upon her lips.

"Enough of that. If it's Camus or I, just act how you normally would."

Kido blinked and considered it, and then shook her head. "Nope, won't do it! Sorry, Mister~"

"It hurts though, doesn't it?"

That's when Kido stopped her fake happiness. She stared at him, and he stared back, for what seemed like hours. No words were exchanged at all, and there was only staring between them.

Then, Kido whispered, "What do you mean?"

"To fake yourself. Hirano would most certainly not care if someone was interested in her. She'd just ignore that person and move on with what she wants to do, when she wants it. Now, tell me why you are now Kido."

Kido's eyes trailed back to the piano. It was like his eyes went through her thoughts, reading them until there was nothing more to read. She felt vulnerable towards the young man sitting expectantly across from her.

She couldn't bring herself to look at him again. "I..." But then, she found Hirano breaking through. She fixed her composure, lifted her chin up high, and said without looking at him, "That is nothing you need to know."

"I am merely helping your spirits to compose better music for me," Mikaze spoke stoically, causing Hirano to twitch.

"You're hell on earth," she sighed. "This is probably why I wanted to become Kido. I wanted to become someone I wasn't. By the way, why were you here?"

"I wanted to tell you the meaning of love," Mikaze replied.

"Okay then. Explain your definition."

"It is officially unexplainable."

Hirano really fought that needy urge to deadpan. "That is not a sufficient answer, Mikaze-san," she said.

"But it is. There are so many definitions to the word 'love.' It depends on what you're looking for. So tell me." Mikaze stood up, walking to Hirano and looking at her seriously. "What kind of answer did you want?"

Hirano remained unaffected under his gaze. "That wasn't part of the deal."

"I'll have that song anyway. I've made the lyrics to it, and it'll be published."

"You really are Mr. Emotionless. I knew you had no meaning to those stupid lyrics, they were just your smart computer making them all up."

Mikaze froze. That wasn't it at all. It was different when he first made it up...it truly was. Why, then?

What made those lyrics?

Then, it hit him.

"You don't know the meaning of love either."

Hirano narrowed her eyes. "I undoubtedly do know." She expected the words, but it never came.

"The meaning of love is to feel fond of someone, not to admire her. It's to feel tense around her, and feel your heartbeat quicken because she means a lot to you. You're like a different person around her."

Mikaze took a step forward; Hirano stepped back. Eventually, it led her to trip on the piano chair. He caught her and continued to speak, "Love isn't chocolates and roses—"

"Mikaze, enough."

"—it's a feeling the brain interprets when you just want it forever."

She really did deadpan a little then. "Mikaze, my gosh."

"Do you love me?"

Then, something unexpected happened to Hirano at that moment. It's a moment you'd never think would ever happen to someone like her: a girl who never would be affected by men.

And yet there, she insisted her heart hiccuped at the ridiculousness the boy was saying. And they were sharing body warmth, so her cheeks had to flare up...

No. She was blushing.

_DOKI DOKI!_

Her heart. It was pounding.

_It can't be._

Her eyes widened. "Mikaze...no." She moved over, giving herself her desired space. "I don't love you. Not in the way you implied."

"Then in what way?"

"There's no way. I don't love you. End of discussion."

"I sensed your heartbeat moving faster."

"You were _this_ close to me."

"Your face was heating up."

"What kind of robot are you?"

Before Mikaze could say another word, Ranmaru came in. As soon as he saw the two, he was about to get out, but then he saw Kido's face. Her _face_. It looked like...

"Wait a minute." Ranmaru walked fully inside, and walked up to Kido. "Ai said that you were someone else. I want to know something though."

Hirano switched quickly. "I don't answer to meanies," she said as she pouted.

"Just shut up and answer me. How are you related to Hirano? Where is she?"

This reminded Kido of back where she said that Hirano wasn't coming back. "Well you see Kuro-kun, Hira-chan did not like any of you guys because she thinks that you're all stupid lovesick jerks all about Haruka-senpai, so yeah." She crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out, causing a huge reaction on Ranmaru's part.

"Oh, so you call STARISH's composer _senpai_!?"

"Any hoo~" Kido completely ignored him. "I wonder, who loved her? She said that Ittoki might've, and Kurusu Syo maybe, and Kotobuki Reiji~? Ooh, I wonder..."

"Your senpai's right here!"

"Eh? Where?"

"ARGH!"

* * *

**Mythia: Okay, so I'll update this hopefully more regularly. You try to make promises, but then you never keep it... *deadpans***

**Maybe this'll be updated one every 2-4 weeks now? **

**What do you think about Kido guys? Mikaze will almost always be the one who knows about Hirano, so just expect that. Also, NO THEY'RE NOT BEING SHIPPED. Capiche? (How do you spell that lol)**

**Have a wonderful day/night, and I hope that chapter you just read was worth reading! XD**


	12. The Art of Composing & Staying Composed

**Mythia: Let's do this, nyaa~! I am a composer(ish) myself, so I have a little experience with this stuff... ahahaha... even though my piano skills aren't _that_ good and I haven't played violin in a while... and that accompaniment sounds pretty bad with guitar... what about the cello, hmm...  
**

**Yeah. I'm a multi-instrumentalist! XD It's fun to learn all sorts of things.**

**Mikaze Ai: You haven't said your disclaimers yet, have you?**

**Mythia: Ah! Mikaze-san!? *jumps* Ehhhh... I don't think so... ahm, no?**

**Mikaze: Mia doesn't own Uta no Prince Sama. She only owns the plot and her OC, Hirano Aoi (Mia: Aka Kido Nagisa and Nanami Hirari X3).**

**Mythia: Oh! Btw, aren't any of you excited for Uta no Prince Sama Revolution!? It's SEASON 3, coming out in Spring~! MUST. WATCH.**

**(Oh and by the way, thank you for those kind reviews, all of you... they really make me wanna cry... X'D)**

* * *

XI: The Art of Composing and Staying Composed

Hirano Aoi was tired.

It was a long night for her, and she couldn't sleep after that power nap, so she decided to stretch a bit and jog outside. It was a little chilly, so she wore a turtleneck and pulled it up to cover her mouth. After a while, she came back to her room, where she saw Camus and Cecil fast asleep.

She stared for a while. Cecil was sprawled on his bed, with his mouth wide open as he drooled, mumbling, "My Princess Haruka," all the way. Hirano frowned, slightly upset that so many boys have a crush on her sister. It was stupid to her. She wondered why so many different types of guys were attracted to the same girl. Is Haruka really all of their types? _Really?_

It didn't add up in Hirano's mind.

Camus slept in a comfortable position: on his back, with his hands tied together on top of his blanket. Hirano stopped frowning, returning to her neutral self, and stepped out the door.

Walking to the music room, she began playing the piano quietly. Her mind was a little hot over the last events with the senpais. She sighed, and pulled out an empty music sheet and pencil. "Well, there isn't much harm in working now," she said to herself, as she began composing.

_"No, that doesn't work right."_

_"The key should change to B. Or should it be E?"_

_"The time signature is better if I use a good 4/4 count."_

_"Ugh, this needs to be a G natural. I keep forgetting that natural sign..."_

Eventually, she found her eyes getting baggy. "What time is it...?" She checked her phone, and her eyes grew wide. "Six... but the sun hasn't risen, has it?"

Opening up the blinds, she found that the sun had indeed risen. "Oh mother of..."

Hirano groaned, pulling at her blonde locks. "Stupid. Stupid."

"That's sincere of you, you faker."

Whipping her head around, Hirano's wide, green eyes met Ranmaru's glaring ones. "W-What...?"

"You're not this 'Kido Nagisa,' are you?" he questioned with his arms crossed. "I tried researching on this person lately, and I found no certificate or anything."

"You _researched_ on me?"

"Shut up! What, you think I'm some idiot?" Ranmaru spat. "Oh, and by the way, Hirano doesn't seem like a realistic character either. So who exactly are you?"

He stepped closer, glaring down into Hirano. For one, quick second, Hirano panicked. But then that quickly slipped away, as she stepped forward and gave him a menacing smile. "Hm? Who am I, you ask? Why, if I told you, you'd just say I'm making up more lies."

"What the hell does that supposed to mean?"

Hirano shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, Kurosaki, you don't think I'm Kido, and you also don't think I'm Hirano. Who could I be then?"

"Some identity stealer. And that's illegal, may I add. I can kick you out and send you to the authorities at any time, you—"

"Ho, ho! Now whaaaaat are you saying?"

It was Ranmaru's turn to spin around. There stood Shining Saotome in all of his glory, sauntering towards the two teens. "What the hell!?"

"Helloooo, Mistar Kurosaki!" boomed Saotome in the quietest voice he can manage, which still came out pretty loud. "It seems the curiosity killed the cat!"

"What?"

"Well then, would you like to know this little girl's secret?"

Hirano's eyes widened. "You know...? Everything?"

"Why, when you research hard enough, you can get the facts!" Saotome stepped in front of Hirano, and plucked a single hair from her head. "DNA says that you're related to a certain someone."

"Ow."

"What? Who?" Ranmaru asked. "I'm lost here."

"What's your last name? Hm? Is it... Nanamiiiiiii?"

"Wait... what?" Ranmaru's face was blank.

Hirano stepped back. "Nanami Hirari," she tried to say without wavering, but she did. "It's Nanami Hirari..."

"That's riiiiighhtt! Did you hear that, Mistar Kurosaki?"

Ranmaru's eyes widened until it couldn't possibly anymore. "That... are you related to... that composer? Nanami Haruka!?"

"Quit shouting," Hirano hissed. "Let me explain."

* * *

Let's repeat this. Hirano Aoi was tired.

But Ranmaru was wide awake.

After Hirano's explanation, Ranmaru was left unsure of what to think anymore. _Why is she doing this to herself? It's stupid!_ he growled in his mind. _Why do you want this stuff to be 'subtle'? Why are girls so complicated?_

"Ran-Ran! Ki-Ki gave us our music sheets! She worked hard on them, so let's give kudos to her!"

"Ki-Ki... who the hell is—"

"Kido-chan! KI. KI."

"Ugh, I don't want to bother anymore."

Ranmaru ignored Reiji for as long as he could. So, whatever happened this morning fogged up his mind.

Looking out into the window, he noticed that 'Kido' was asleep on the bench, curled up like when he saw her on the couch the day before. "Stupid girl," he muttered, as he walked right outside.

Reiji blinked. "Ran-Ran...?" He decided to follow suit.

The two stood right before Kido, staring at her form. "Hehe, she's cute, right?" hummed Reiji, which earned him a smack. "Hey!"

"Shut up, she's sleeping," Ranmaru growled. "See, this girl is stupid. Very stupid. Like, just what is she doing to herself?"

"What? You mean the medications she takes?" Shrugging, Reiji bent down to meet her eye level. "Ooh, her nose... it's like a cute, wittle button." He poked it before leaning to kiss it.

Kido moved, wrinkling her nose.

"You idiot!" hissed Ranmaru. "Why'd you do that...!"

"I can't help it. She's too cute. But her nose is just like... hm, I don't know. It's just familiar..." Reiji froze. "Wait."

"What," said Ranmaru, uninterested.

"It's just like Hira-chaaan's!" he whispered loudly. "Don't you think?"

"Yeah, that's because—"

"Oi... What are you two doing?"

Both flinched at the voice. Kido was awake, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. "Are you here to rehearse the songs with me?" she mumbled, smiling to herself. "Just so you know... even when the girl is cute—_the more you should not wake her up_."

Her smile was the same, but it screamed, "Scary!" at the boys' faces. Looking away, Ranmaru groaned, "You need to get some rest. Don't worry about us."

"That's new!" exclaimed Reiji in surprise. Glancing back at Kido, he noticed the bags under her eyes. "Oh... well, you are tired, aren't you? Did you pull off an all nighter!?"

"Hahaha... maybe?" Kido tried hard to pull off her cute act, but with Ranmaru there (to whom she was pissed off at), it proved to be harder than she thought.

Reiji pulled her up on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Come on, we better put you in bed—eh?" He froze again. "How much do you weigh?"

"Wah! That's meeeaan, Rei-chan," pouted Kido.

"No, I mean that... I carried Hira-chan before," he remarked. "She weighs about the same as you."

Kido blinked. "You carried her? Eh? Um... never mind," she said to herself. "Who's lighter?"

"I... don't know?"

"Huh." Her face was blank. "Well, we do suffer some similar conditions. We're very much alike, actually!"

Reiji laughed. "You're more different than you think!"

"Eh?"

"Now, let's goooo!"

"Ah, wait!"

"What the hell," muttered Ranmaru, sitting down on the bench in defeat.

* * *

"Nanami? Can I talk to you?"

"Oh? Of course, Syo-kun!" Haruka exclaimed, making room on the couch for him to sit down.

"Thanks," he said, glancing at the new music sheets she was working on. "I just wanted to ask you something. And I need your full attention if that's alright."

"Um, okay." She smiled, putting down her music sheets and the other things on her lap. Dropping her hands on her lap, she asked, "Is there something wrong?"

"It's about Hirano."

Haruka faltered. "What about her?" She didn't mean to seem unenthusiastic. She was just concerned—even worried—about Hirano. Where'd she go all of a sudden? Why is this Kido Nagisa in her place?

"It's just that she's... well, I kind of like her." Realizing what he said, he blushed. "Ah, no, that's not what I meant... I mean that she's really weird. She's always hiding herself. And then..."

"And then we have Kido-san, right?" Haruka nodded in understanding, looking away. "She's the complete opposite of Hirano-san. And yet, I feel as if there's some sort of barrier she puts in front of us. Even though she's so open to us, it's like she's farther away than Hirano-san..."

Syo's eyes widened. "Yeah. I thought it was just me." He chuckled nervously, rubbing the nape of his neck. "So while Natsuki's not here to stalk me, I just want to say this. I want Hirano back. She may be mean, and weird, and kind of like a lone wolf, but she's better than a yapping, annoying ball of sunshine riding the rainbows and lollipops."

"Oh, Syo-kun," Haruka giggled. "Don't say that about Kido-san. She's a nice person."

He huffed. "Not really."

"She reminds me of Tomo-chan sometimes."

"Oh, Shibuya? Well, she's less annoying."

Haruka closed her eyes. "But you know, I feel like she has this potential, like Hirano-san," she said earnestly. "They both may seem different, but I feel like they're the same."

"Haha, just had this thought," Syo joked. "What if Kido _was_ Hirano? Because Hirano's all, 'Oh, I don't want to show myself, and I'm mean and cold, and I want to stay in character,' so she had to be another person to express herself or something—"

Both stood very still, as it sunk in.

"That actually makes sense," said Syo.

"You might be right, Syo-kun!" Haruka's eyes were wide. "Let's ask Kido-san!"

"Wait, we can't do that! She might just lie to us!"

"We have to try!"

"Nanami! Let's not try!"

"Come on, Syo-kun," Haruka exclaimed, grabbing his hand. Because of this, Syo couldn't help but blush. "Let's go find her."

Syo sighed, "Oh, what the hell..." as he followed her in defeat.

* * *

"Put me dooowwn!"

"No way! Not now!"

"Rei-chaaaan... please...!"

Kido was feeling sluggish. "I'm so tired," she moaned, punching with no energy on his back. Reiji laughed goodheartedly in return—a mischievous, playful laugh that made Kido blink and stop for a moment before bawling her fists at him again.

"Come on, my little sour lemon! You're usually sweet as a strawberry!" Reiji chuckled. Kido stopped momentarily again and thought before she used her head to hit him.

"Yo-u ga-ve me an i-de-a. Amazing," she said in syllables, each time leaning forward to smack his bony shoulder.

Once Reiji found Kido's room, he carefully placed her in the bed. "You should sleep, Ki-ki!" he cried. "You look extremely tired!"

Kido cutely yet sleepily giggled. "Yeah... tell Cam-chan that we'll have to write the lyrics to my composition later in the evening..."

Reiji didn't speak for a moment. Kido blinked up at him with large, blue eyes. For some reason, Reiji could see... "Hey, Ki-Ki?"

Kido paused. Reiji's face was inches from hers. Blushing slightly, she leaned back. "Y-Yeah?"

Reiji chuckled, and bounced right on her bed. "Tell me about Hira-Ra!"

"Hi... what?" Kido made a face at this. _He changed my name again_, she thought.

"Come on! You can tell me!"

Kido bit her lip. "B-But I'm tired!" she whined. Then, she shivered, her head feeling a sharp pang. Her eyes widened frantically. _This is bad. My head... I can't be Kido right now. It hurts being her. Why then, did I do this...?_

"Ki-Ki! Are you alright!?" Reiji exclaimed. "We can talk later! I just thought that you might fall asleep when you talk."

The blonde looked up at his worried face. She smiled slightly. _Reiji is a good person_, she thought, as she raised a hand to cup his face. Reiji flinched in surprise. Then Kido immediately lowered her hand. "I..."

"Huh?"

"Reiji, do you like Hirano?"

Reiji blinked. He wasn't expecting Kido to ask him such a question. When he thought about it once, he did like her. He liked her a lot. But then, when he thought more deeply about it, it distressed him. The time when Hirano played 'Poison Kiss' for him was probably when his heart was heard in his ears. When he wanted to stop time and stay with her. When he wanted her to sing with him, even though he already knew she wouldn't.

He did like Hirano. Thinking twice, he liked Hirano in a way that goes out of professional. Things like that made him wonder why Saotome had that 'no love' rule...

"Rei-chan?"

"Hah? Oh," Reiji looked at her for a moment and smiled, responding with a, "I do. Even though I hardly know her face, Hirano is a wonderful person. You're lucky to be friends with her."

"Do you like me then?"

That caused Reiji to jump. "W-What? Of course I do!"

"No, not like that." Kido sat up, rubbed one of her eyes, and sniffed. Reiji didn't see tears, but felt the sad atmosphere. Kido didn't know what she was saying anymore. "I... Reiji, I probably won't like you as anything more than a friend, but I can tell that you're in love with Hirano." _Did you know?_ she thought. _If only you knew. If only everyone knew. I'm sure they do... but this needs to be done in a way that doesn't shock everyone..._

_... but it's probably too late._

"Me? Love Hirano... I don't know about that! I mean, I really like her, but I've only encountered her a few times."

"I can set you two up on a date." Kido covered her mouth. _W-What the hell did I just say?_

"Oh. Wait..." Reiji looked alarmed, and touched Kido's forehead. "You're not in your right mind right now, are you?"

"I know! I-I, um, why did I say that?"

"Huh? I'm not sure I know what you mean," Reiji said, blinking and making faces.

She sighed. She had enough of this screwed up mess.

Kido took Reiji's large hands in hers, looked him in the eye, and said, "I am Hirano Aoi, and I am the twin sister of Nanami Haruka."

"W... Huh!?" That wasn't Reiji's voice. In fact, that was Syo's.

And beside the short blonde with a hat on his head, there stood Haruka, eyes wide and face pale.

* * *

**Mythia: Well... that happened! To be honest, I didn't expect this chapter to end up like this as I wrote it...**

**I'm sorry. I have so many ideas for this one, but I'm keeping this story short. So events must MOVE ON! You all knew this'd happen. Well, now it did.**

**I'll be rewriting the first few chapters. Don't worry, I'm not rewriting the entire thing. I'm simply editing it, because I wrote that at the time when I didn't know too much about UtaPri. :)**


	13. The Past of Nanami Hirari

**Mythia: ... So you guys liked the last chapter, or not...? Lol so confused by the reviews (all of you are just slack-jawed but I like that HAHAH).**

**I'll have you know that once this is finished, I won't rewrite it. I might actually leave FF after I finish some of my stories due to personal events and that my reason for being here isn't as strong now than before. My reason? I wanted to improve my writing, because I was pretty terrible. Also... **

**...I had anime fantasies. (YOU KNOW YOU DO TOO)**

**Because of my many friends here on FF, I managed to improve lots. You know who you are, so thank you. :)**

**So I'll be presenting you this new chapter while I have the day off! Enjoy!**

**P.S. HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT! Uta no Prince Sama Maji Love Revolution (season 3) is OUT! SO GO WATCH EPISODE 1! (PM me and tell me what you thought of it! I have my own opinion, which I can say at the bottom :D)**

* * *

XIII: The Past of Nanami Hirari

Nanami Haruka was speechless. "Hi... Hirari?"

Before Hirari could react, she fell asleep.

The first to speak was Syo. "What the hell was that!?" he shouted in confusion. Haruka had to shush him.

Reiji looked away, his brows knit together. Of _all_ the shocking things that have happened in his life, this was probably the breakthrough of shockers. When his eyes met Haruka's, he bit his lip, then laughed nervously.

Syo stepped forward. "What do you know?"

Reiji just kept a steady, low laugh. "That's all I know. Really! I... I have no idea what's going on," he muttered honestly. He stopped laughing.

Syo couldn't believe it. In fact, none of them did, but from Haruka's face, both boys knew that she was taking the biggest impact from the situation.

"Hirari? I-I thought..." So Hirari wasn't dead. Haruka knew that. But being convinced that she was dead for all her life, only to find her here wasn't the easiest thing to process.

Hirari was sound asleep, her head on Reiji's leg. Reiji stroked her hair, blonde and _fake_. He pulled gently at it, already knowing that it was dyed but feeling shocked nonetheless.

Syo stared at her face. He remembered Hirano Aoi's face clearly, and it matched Kido Nagisa's. But what shocked him the most was that looking carefully, he could see Nanami's face. "N-Nanami?"

"Y-Yes?" Haruka stammered.

"What do you know about... her?" Syo wasn't sure what to call her anymore.

"Well, she's my sister... and my twin sister at that." Haruka took a deep, shaky breath, trying to keep her emotions under control. "When I was sick, I lived with obaa-chan (grandmother), away from the fumes of the city. Hirari was sicker than I was, coughing up blood often. This frightened all of us, and we put her in the hospital."

Before the boys knew it, Haruka was crying. "T-Then, she was kidnapped... and okaa-san and otou-san (mom and dad) put up posters everywhere. When I got the message from obaa-chan..."

"They said she was dead, didn't they?"

Haruka was crying too much to reply, so she just nodded. Syo, with a face tinted pink, rubbed circles onto her back.

Reiji was silent. He just stared at Hirari, glancing at Haruka from time to time. "Um, it's probably not my place to say this, but uh, can you tell us what Hirari was like?"

Sniffing, Haruka nodded with a small smile. "Hirari was a very sickly person. She was always at the hospital, unable to breathe any air outside. Her lungs were very fragile, even more so than mine, and her body couldn't move too much. So she had therapy to walk. She was strong and brave, braver than anyone I know."

"Nanami," Syo whispered, looking down. Reiji urged her to continue.

"Hirari was very quiet and obedient. No matter how scary the needles seemed, or how painful the operations done on her were, she never spoke a word of complaint. Though it was as if she had no heart."

"What do you mean?" Syo asked with concern. His brows knitted together, as he started at Hirari.

"She wouldn't even flinch at pain inflicted on her. Nothing ever seemed to bother her. But her eyes were what scared me most, because they held no emotion at all. But, if you look very, very deep into her eyes, you'll see..." Haruka trailed off, shutting her eyes. "I'm sorry... hold on."

Syo held her shoulders to keep her from falling. Her foot pattern was getting out of balance when she tried to sit next to Reiji and Hirari.

She composed herself and drew in a long breath before she said, "Her eyes were glazed. Through it, you see all of that hidden, growing fear, sadness, loneliness, anger, pain, and just all sorts of negative emotion. It wasn't in her head. It wasn't in her heart. It was just out of the mix altogether. She's never known happiness."

"Happiness?" Syo widened his eyes. In fact, all of them did, as they had come to the realization that Hirari couldn't be affected with the Happy Pulse back at their concert because of her past.

"It all makes sense, doesn't it?" Reiji gasped. "Why she was always off and aloof, why she was sick and never talked about it, why she never wanted to talk to anyone… oh wait."

"What?" asked Syo.

"That doesn't explain why she avoided Haru-ru-chan! Why couldn't Hira-ra just _tell_ her?"

Haruka shook her head. "If I was Hirari, I would've done the same thing. I would've stalled until I could find a way to tell my sister that I was alive." She felt hot tears fall down once more. Reiji leaned to the side, near Hirari's desk, to grab a tissue for Haruka.

"I would've just flat out told my twin if he thought I was dead," Syo said, "but maybe girls aren't like that. They sort of think it through first, which isn't bad, but they usually overthink it, and things end up happening like this."

Haruka let out a small giggle in between her hiccups. "I suppose so."

"I think… we should go," Reiji said. "Though Haru-ru-chan stays here. Baby-face here can hang with me for a bit."

"Who are you calling 'baby-face'?"

* * *

When Hirari woke up, it was very late. She groaned at her body clock screwing up to the times of her early teenage years. "I somehow managed to change it back to sleeping at eleven, waking up at seven—the 7/11 clock—only for it to switch back to 12/2."

As you might've guessed, it was 2 in the morning. Haruka was long gone since nine, but Hirari had a twin sense that she was awake. It was that left mind telling her that she just was, and she never argued with her left mind. She always argued with her right mind.

It was then that she noticed a small note on her desk. It was Haruka's neat handwriting that was small and faint, as if her pencil just brushed past the paper. _'Please come to my room to talk to me in the morning. I think we need to talk. –Haruka'_

Hirari felt a cold shiver run down her back. She wondered, _What does she need from me?_

She just realized how much she avoided Haruka all of a sudden, and it gave her a headache. The entire burden in her was piling up to her heart, like trash to the city. She could only hold so much in. _I need to tell her before I explode_, she thought, as she tried to sleep again.

It was soon seven in the morning. Hirari was tired, but it wasn't like she hadn't slept for five hours before. In fact, that seemed like a lot of hours to her back when she was fourteen.

When Hirari tried to walk, her legs felt like jelly. Her head felt light, but not light enough to pass out. Just light enough to make her look stupid.

"Oi." As she tried to find her way to a music room, Hirari bumped into Ranmaru, who eyed her suspiciously. "Did you go to a bar or something, idiot?"

She stared at him, seeing three pairs of heterochromnic eyes. "H-Huh?"

He leaned forward until their noses were in close proximity. "You. Look. Drunk."

"Oh," she sighed, trying to stand up straight. She noticed that her knees were bent and that her legs were spread out. A normal girl would've been embarrassed then, but Hirari just let that moment slip past her.

"So, did you tell anyone else?" Ranmaru moved on, seeing as they weren't going to progress in that conversation. They kept walking while talking. "Or is it only me that knows who you really are?"

"I feel like everyone knows for some reason, ever since I told you," said Hirari, combing her hair out. She rubbed her temple furiously when she took one glance at her clothes, the same from yesterday and wrinkly from sleeping in it.

Ranmaru wrinkled his nose. "What does that mean?"

"I don't remember what happened yesterday… I only remember that you know who I am, and then nothing after that," she grunted. "Frustrating."

He hummed in acknowledgement. "Though I'm confused. Why the personas?"

"You know, I had a reason before," she answered honestly. "However, that reason is gone. I'll just tell her."

"Tell who?"

"Haruka."

Ranmaru had to think about what Hirari meant before his eyes slightly widened. "Wait, are you…?"

"Yes, I am."

He looked impressed, as he crossed his arms. "Well then, good luck. After all of these stupid, annoying personas, I'd like to see the real you through all of those layers."

"You're looking at it."

"Um, no I'm not," he opposed. "I'm looking at a blonde chick that looks drunk. That isn't you, is it?"

"I didn't drink yesterday, just to make that clear," she sternly spoke.

Ranmaru then decided to ask, "What's your natural hair color?"

Hirari scoffed at the question she found unnecessary to know. "I bet yours isn't silver."

"I bet yours isn't blonde, and it wasn't blue either."

"You're right. It's not." Hirari showed him a small smile that he knew wasn't real. "How about you guess, hm?"

"Alright," he said. He thought back of the times he spoke to her, and he suddenly remembered when she was sleeping. Her eyelashes were long and natural… "You're a ginger like STARISH's composer."

"About time you figured," she yawned, provoking Ranmaru's hell inside of him. "You know I'm Haruka's twin sister. Did you assume we were fraternal? Though maybe everyone assumed that, or else they would've found me out a long time ago through the face."

He grumbled, "Don't make me laugh."

"I couldn't if I bothered trying." Hirari breathed in deeply, feeling as if she wasn't getting enough air. That was unusual to her, so she was left to suppose that she was breathing shallow breaths.

That's when her head hurt again. Ranmaru just glanced at her, conflicted inside whether to help her or not. She actually reminded him of a small, helpless kitten, which irritated him a lot.

He made up his mind. Gripping firmly onto her arm, he said, "Chill. What's wrong with you?"

"Sorry," she muttered, feeling like jelly again. "I don't think I can hold my weight."

"Does this usually happen? Has it happened before?" Ranmaru, like any human, started to panic. Hirari began to rely on him to keep herself from falling. "Are you going to pass out?"

"No," she answered. "I know the feeling when I do. I'm just feeling really, really heavy."

"You are heavy!" Ranmaru started cursing at her weight. "What are you, an elephant?"

"Comment that about me again and I'll slit your throat."

Ranmaru clenched his teeth, and brought Hirari back to her room. Hirari was right when she said that she wasn't going to go unconscious. She was just lying down, her eyes up on the ceiling.

"Should I go tell Saotome about this?" Ranmaru asked.

Hirari didn't answer instantly. She focused on his sincere face, concerned and worried. She actually felt cared about, which made her feel weird at the unfamiliarity. "He'd already know by now," she responded. "He keeps an eye out for me often, even when he's nowhere around."

"Do you need medicine?"

She nodded, instructing him where to find it. Ranmaru soon left to get some water for her, and came back with Reiji tagging along.

"Hello again!" he exclaimed, with his usual cheery self. "I officially know what to call Haru-ru-chan."

"I don't care, and neither does she," said Ranmaru. "Go away."

"Never!" he laughed, plopping his body beside Hirari's. "Haru-ru shall be called… kiddo!"

Hirari had no idea what came over her. It was entirely unthinkable for that small bubble to erupt out of her throat into the world that she never thought she had, but she tried to cover it as best as she can to look like she was coughing.

Reiji caught it though, and gaped in shock. "Whoa! You… you laughed!" he pointed.

"I-I did not!"

Ranmaru wore confusion on his face. "Why are you so surprised, Reiji? Isn't is normal for Kido to laugh?"

Reiji blinked. "Oh. _Right."_

An awkward silence ensued. Hirari had completely forgotten about Kido Nagisa. But why was she acting all normal, then, at _Kotobuki Reiji_ of all people?

Well, it didn't matter anyway.

"There's no such thing as a Kido Nagisa," she said.

"Um, I know that!" Reiji laughed nervously. "But does _he_ know that?" His silvery grey eyes glanced at Ranmaru, who just stood there, bored.

"Huh. So you know too."

Hirari sat up and stared. "… I don't remember telling you that~!" she tried to sing, but it was so forced and obvious that she just groaned right after. "Water. Water. Pill. Please."

"Ugh, quit that you stupid little—!"

"Okay, so I know that you told me about this 'Nanami Hirari' business," Reiji started off, "but how don't you know, or more of how can you forget about yesterday? And how does he know and how do I not know that he knew? And for how long did he know? And how many other people know? WHO KNOWS?"

"I don't know!" Hirari shouted. "I don't even know how you know that, but I quit! You know what I want to do? I want to get the damn medicine and shove it down my throat, that's what! So leave me at peace so I can start remembering what I did yesterday!"

Ranmaru, pissed off at her bossiness, went right ahead and forced her mouth open, practically slamming the pill right into her stomach, and shoving a water bottle into her throat. "There."

She gagged for half a minute, and Reiji was there to pat her back. After she calmed down, Hirari apologized to Ranmaru and thanked Reiji.

"You know, you're hardly like kiddo."

* * *

**Mythia: Hirari X QN! Yes, I ship it. Please tell me you've noticed my favor for QUARTET NIGHT. (Camus is gonna be really in there more soon, as will Tokiya, Masato, Ren, and Cecil~)**

**EPISODE 1 of SEASON 3? Well, it was cheesy cheese balls as hell and it was actually pretty hard to watch. It was just... same old, same old, you know? The only good thing was that Quartet Night was SO MUCH more involved in the story that I suddenly didn't care as much at the cheesiness of STARISH. The opening was eye candy and eargasm galore too. Though the ending, you know, Maji Love 1000%-2000% song, was Maji Love Revolution, which was pretty good, but IT RUINED IT FOR ME. YA KNOW WHY?**

**3D DANCING. FRICK, were the animators so lazy as to not draw out and animate the dances!? (Even though they did that for QN, the drawing animation I mean)**

**Update for the next chapter will be really quick. 2 Weeks. I promise. :D**


	14. In Need of Help

**Mythia: This chapter is pretty dramatic, and you'll be "wait wut"-ing me a lot, so... *smiles*  
**

**I also brought in everyone... I think. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

XIV: In Need of Help

Everyone was called to the main room, which consisted of a large, grand staircase, a midnight grand piano, some couches, and ginormous windows with curtains you'd find in a castle the hue of dark blood.

Often times, Hirari thought of the Master Course dorm to be a castle, big and fit for royalty. With people like Hijirikawa and Camus, it really did feel like that. Even Ittoki had Hirari think of a kind, upbeat servant of some sort.

But people like Saotome just completely ruined the image.

Saotome simply announced that Hirari was sick in a complicated way. Ringo and Hyuga visited to wish her good health, as were STARISH. But she couldn't help but sense that Syo and Haruka were _way_ off, as Haruka kept stuttering at her and Syo was stiff to speak.

But Saotome also added something that's gotten them all wondering what was going through his brain when he said it: STARISH and QUARTET NIGHT, along with Haruka and Tomochika were to accompany Hirari into a video game room to play, well…

Video games.

Syo and Ittoki quickly plopped down on a cushion, relaxing for two seconds before flocking to the video games. "What should we play?"

"Look! Look!"

"Oh, amazing! They have this game!"

"OI." Tokiya had to speak over them. "You're being obnoxious. Kido-san is the one who gets to choose the game."

"Why are we here?" Ren had to question, though he didn't exactly mind. He could get to know Kido a bit more, after all. Not that he wasn't still in love with another girl. He was just… testing out the waters.

Kido laughed a little. "Aw, you guys! Honestly, I'm not sick or anything. I'm just having motor problems."

"Since when?" asked Natsuki in worry.

"Oh, since… hm, I guess yesterday. But anyway!" The whole time, she was holding onto Hijirikawa and Tokiya for support, and she let go. They were in time to catch her, but she insisted on falling.

STARISH, QUARTET NIGHT, Haruka and Tomochika watched as Kido laughed like a drunkard while crawling on the floor, finding a good game to play. Reiji couldn't stop laughing, which confused most of them in the room. Ranmaru slapped him.

"Hm, oh, this is a good one," she mumbled to herself, while Ittoki tried peeking. Syo and Cecil had to hold him back, though Cecil wasn't really helping since he was interested in the video games.

"Okay! What about this one? We can take turns with the players, since it's only a single-player game…" When she pulled it out, the group had gotten to see that she had chosen _Life is Strange_.*

"Whoa! Haven't played that yet," Ittoki exclaimed, sitting right next to her. Kido snorted, before she lost her balance and ended up head-butting Ittoki's shoulder.

Ittoki had to hold her while Natsuki put the disc in. "Ki-chan, are you going to be okay?" Natsuki worriedly asked.

"Huh? What do you mean? I'll be fine!"

Tokiya rolled his eyes. Just how did Kido get along with someone like Hirano Aoi? Or was it the other way around? He knew that he could get along decently with Hirano, but Kido?

Just no.

Tomochika decided to talk to Haruka. "I thought Hirano-chan was strange, but this girl is very off to me," she whispered.

Haruka looked down. "Yes, they both are very off…"

Tomo glanced at Haruka, and then rubbed her shoulders. "Is there something wrong?"

"There is."

As for Ren, he chuckled amusedly. To him, Kido was just _interesting_. She was annoying to some and strange to others, but to Ren, she was just _interesting_. She also looked familiar, but he never really deeply thought about it. He told himself that it wouldn't really matter, or that someone else would look into that. It wasn't his place.

Suddenly, Kido said out loud, "You all like Haruka, right?"

The entire room froze. "Now, what kind of tactless question is that?" Camus angrily questioned. "It's also very vague. But that hardly matters, since I won't answer to stupidity."

STARISH all blushed in unison (save Ren, who just rose his brows), refusing to speak.

Mikaze spoke up with no hint of red on his face, "The composer's songs do make my heart feel strange, but not the composer herself."

Haruka was speechless. She was a tomato-faced mess, not quite processing what was happening.

"Uh, ignore Ai-Ai, kiddo!" Reiji nervously exclaimed. "I like you _and_ your songs! You're really nice and kind and cute, so why not?"

"Pfft! You guys are adorable! Now STARISH—"

"P-Please stop," Haruka whispered.

Kido stopped alright, not before staring emotionlessly at Haruka. She whirled around, with Ittoki holding her arm, turning on the TV. With the controller in her hands, Kido silently began the game.

The group wasn't sure what happened. One minute, they had Kido laughing and teasing them, and for another minute, she was silent.

Suddenly, Cecil's necklace was glowing brighter than it ever was. Kido ignored it, while STARISH examined it. In replace of Ittoki supporting her, it was Mikaze.

"You seem tired," he noted.

"Do I…?"

Then, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She paused the game, and turned her head around, only to be blinded with light.

"There! See?" Cecil pointed at Kido. "The muses are telling us that Kido's power in music is massive! However, Haruka's is the same!"

"H-Hah?" Kido stammered, "W-What are you—?"

"Can I try something?" Haruka timidly asked. When she walked towards Cecil, she sat right next to Kido, and pulled the necklace gently towards them.

The room was naturally dark, but it was as if the light was switched on. The light of the TV was hardly there in comparison to the necklace's light.

"What does this mean?" asked Natsuki.

Out of nowhere, Haruka started crying. "Please, enough is enough…" She hugged Kido, who widened her eyes.

"H-Haruka…?"

"I'm not following," said Camus.

"I don't think any of us are," said Tomo.

Mikaze then knew. By their faces, their height, weight, age, and more, he just knew.

Ranmaru and Reiji looked at each other. Syo bit his lip.

"Haruka, not now," Kido whispered. She pushed her away. "This'll be a lot to explain anyway." She had a strange feeling that Haruka knew. Did she?

To test, Kido asked her, "Haruka, what is my name?"

Haruka opened her mouth and said without hesitation, "Nanami Hirari."

"Wait what!?" Like Ittoki, everyone else had that question in their minds except for the ones that already knew.

"How did we separate?"

"You… you were kidnapped…"

Hijirikawa had his side on Haruka. "You're making her cry. This wasn't supposed to be like this." But even Masato was affected by the situation. He couldn't believe that Kido Nagisa was _possibly_ Haruka's sister. But when he further looked at her, he suddenly noticed the facial features. He even noticed that she was Hirano Aoi, despite the concealed look prior to Kido.

"Hijirikawa-san, this isn't for you to insert yourself in," Hirari sternly spoke. To Haruka, she said, "You're wrong. I wasn't kidnapped."

"W-What…?"

"I don't know what obaa-san told you, but I left the hospital into the country, with the help of a nurse. At the time, I was a burden to okaa-san and otou-san, so I wanted to leave. I wanted everyone to have one less person to worry about."

"No! We were only worried sick about you!" Haruka cried.

"Well, I was young! At first, I just went with every procedure to get better, just for the sake of the piling bills. I wanted to get out, because our parents couldn't support me in the situation, with the jobs they had. Even with obaa-san's money, they all knew it wouldn't work."

"Hirari—!" she hiccupped.

"But when I realized that I was going to stay in the hospital until my teenage years, I had to go! Okaa-san and otou-san already were in debt the first year. Understand that."

"They loved you! Money didn't matter to them as long as you were okay!"

"Well, imagine living with yourself knowing that your family was poor because you drained their money."

No one else spoke, and instead hung on their every word. Cecil's necklace glowed a bright blue, but it felt strangely dim due to the hot discussion.

Haruka wept, "Hirari, you should never think like that—!"

"Well _guess what?_ It already happened," Hirari spoke sharply.

"Why are you so calm about this?" Tokiya couldn't help but ask aloud. "Why do you have no heart? Nanami-san is crying about this all, while you just add to her tears—"

"You _don't get it_," she interrupted. "I _can't_ express my emotion. Even if I wanted to."

"Her past had her not to express her emotions," Syo said. "I know it's not my place to say this, but Haruka can't speak anymore, so… I want to speak for her."

"How do you know that?" Ranmaru growled. "Did Saotome tell you? Who told you?"

"Haruka did."

"Since when did she know!?"

"At the same time I knew!" Syo began to curse in frustration and puzzlement. "What, do you know too!?"

Ranmaru snarled, "Saotome told me."

"Wait, when was that?" Reiji questioned, glaring at Ranmaru. "And how come you didn't tell anyone?"

"Because she wanted to keep it a secret, obviously!"

Camus glanced over at Mikaze. "How long did you know about this?"

"I've known since Saotome knew, which was likely before they found out," Mikaze replied. "It wasn't when Hirano Aoi was introduced, no; it was after that, when she performed for us what I claimed would be my song."

Upon hearing this, Hirari's eyes widened a fraction. "What…?"

Mikaze began to sing, "_Hirari, Hirari, tenohira ni…_"

_How did I not catch this? _Hirari wondered in disbelief. _Then again, my heart was ringing in my ears when he sang my name then… I was most likely distracted, darn it._

Mikaze lied though. He actually didn't know then; his voice just spoke for itself for some unknown reason. He blamed his uncontrollable system at the moment.

"I'm not sure I understand what's going on still," Cecil spoke up honestly. A number of heads nodded in agreement.

Tokiya turned the television off. "We'll play video games another time," he said. "Now isn't the time for too many people to be involved with something that's obviously supposed to be discussed between Nanami-san and her sister."

"Ichinose is right," agreed Masato. "I feel a pang of guilt for listening to something I'm not worthy of hearing."

"Oh, Masa," Ren sighed. "Quit the formal act. You're stiffening the room and making me choke."

Ittoki was already trying to repeat aloud what was going on through his head. Tokiya tried to shut him up, while Syo tried to explain to Natsuki the problem at hand. Natsuki being Natsuki had more questions that anyone could count in the room.

Masato and Ren picked up Hirari, who tried to swat them away but failed. That's when her eyes became dull once more. Though it always was, her time at the Master Course with all of these boys made her life even slightly lively. She knew that if she spoke a word of truth, then drama would happen. For a while, she decided to avoid it. Besides, it drained her body for some reason. All of that emotional buildup that never could escape took a large toll on her.

The moment when she was getting too many problems with her health, it slipped. _Gosh damn it,_ she thought bitterly.

Haruka had one look at Hirari, and then she froze in fear. Tomo had caught this, looked in her direction, and froze too. Once everyone looked into her empty eyes, they were all like ice sculptures. Even Camus the Count, who could _make_ ice, was a victim.

Hirari wanted to show anger. She wanted to show fear. She wanted to express her emotions. But once again, that block that she created in the past resurfaced, and she was a slave to herself.

"H-Hirari…?" Ittoki stuttered.

"Ittoki-san," Hirari muttered, staring emptily at him, "help me."

* * *

**(*_Life is Strange_ is such an awesome game, even though the graphics are a little sucky. If you tolerate rated M games, then HECK, PLAY IT.)**

**Mythia: YAY I UPDATED.**

**EPISODE 2 of SEASON 3: I loved the fangirl service with MORE QN and the shirtless bodies in the end, but... THEY TOTALLY BL-ED IT UP. WHY. (and with QN JUST WHYYYY ;u;)**

**EPISODE 3: I loved it! It was really, really cute... dorky, but cute. I laughed at Ittoki and Tokiya, and how Ittoki tried to copy him. And for some reason, Natsuki and Ittoki looked really hot in this episode... I need a life...**


	15. Going Back

**Mythia: So... this chapter is shorter than I thought it would be. Though, I didn't know how it could be any longer than this XD  
**

**This'll be so "anime-like" because there's this one scene that is SOOOO weird lol. Ignore it.**

* * *

XV: Going Back

Nanami Hirari had to leave.

According to Saotome, she was becoming a burden and a distraction to the composers and idols in the Master Course dorm. They couldn't move forward if Hirari was there.

Saotome promised Hirari that he'd pay for her stay at a hospital, so the money was covered. Hirari agreed to all of this on one condition, which was that she'd give her music numbers she had composed to QUARTET NIGHT, and the duets to STARISH.

Without looking at Nanami, she spoke, "Haruka, I didn't finish the duets for a number of them. I've done more than 10 total. Now, you finish them, and help them write the lyrics for them. For me."

Haruka was crying uncontrollably, and nearly wet the pages given to her. Hirari couldn't cry though. She had no tears.

Suddenly, Cecil shouted, "Wait! She can't leave! The Muses—"

"Quit the Muses crap!" Syo cried, exasperated.

"You know, you stupid woman," Ranmaru spoke, walking towards her, "I want to see your real self before you dare to leave."

Hirari sighed. "Do you?"

"Me too," Ittoki said. "Can I see your real face, Nanami Hirari?"

Hirari tried to breathe normally, but was struggling. That lump in her throat tortured and teased her, making her know that those feelings were forever trapped inside of her.

She took her fingers in her eyes, which disgusted Ranmaru (as he knew that doing that without washing hands first wasn't clean), and pulled out her contacts. When she looked back up, their breaths were taken away.

Syo remembered those eyes quite well. Just how could he forget them? A number of people who have seen it before stood still, unable to speak.

Haruka, the painful memories flooding into her, fell to the floor, unconscious.

* * *

Haruka woke up to a soft, vulnerable voice.

**Nanami Hirari: Yobanashi Deceive**

**English Translation (adjusted):**

**"Lying is my forte, you know?"  
"But I'm not so good at being honest…"  
"It's kinda funny, actually…"  
"My truest tales sound the most false."**

**Beat box and the rhythm flies  
Over night the city seems to mirror back  
Beat two and the concrete shines  
Is it fine if I complain all this while now?**

**Hey, can I talk a bit?  
It's about some stupid, hurtful, habits  
Yet, I can't stall anymore  
It's a pretty short-long story that you'll laugh about I'll guarantee**

Haruka did not laugh. She wondered why Hirari was trying to smile at this song. It was upbeat, yet it had these lonely undertones to it. She was also singing fast, as if she wanted to end the song quickly.

**I suppose you want to hear the talking  
There's something very strange about me  
I've disguised it as uncalled-for  
Though I've always known that it troubled all of you**

**One day, t'was long ago,  
This "monster" started speaking into me  
Laughing all evilly  
It controlled my heart and kept on lying**

**Ever since then, I've simply lied ever since  
And hid from everyone who thought of me as foolish and cruel  
Sometimes I feel as if I've become monstrous  
Oh now don't cry, it's nothing serious… it's just a little tale...**

**I'm so wrong! I'm underhanded! I can't falsify it all  
So I say, but doesn't my truth sound as if it's pretend?  
I'm deceiving, so ignore me as if I never exist  
The lies will just keep piling up, on and on until I die…**

STARISH and QUARTET NIGHT were about to enter the room, until they heard a voice. Tokiya's eyes widened a fraction. He had heard Hirari sing before, and it made sense that the song he heard didn't suit Hirano. It suited Hirari.

**Beat on and the girl who shies  
From the night that disappears like everyone  
Beat two and she runs to hide  
From the hateful lies that make her cry so much**

**When I overthink my thoughts  
I start to make an ideal "input" inside  
Beat beating into my heart  
That's the only thing that allows me to be me**

**Now you know, if all of that became the truth  
I'd really run away and live alone with nobody else  
Just another lie? No, no, I want this to be true!  
I can't, my brain! It's drowning deep into the flood that's screaming "NO"**

**I'm so wrong! I'm underhanded! Listen to this beating heart  
Hear all the fear, the crying tears, I feel so far when I'm near!  
If I say I'm really lonely, you could figure just a bit  
And nothing changes, really, it just strips everyone from the unknown**

All eyes widened at her words. Hirari herself felt and knew that everyone was listening. She could only express her emotion through singing; it was her only escape. She could feel the tears break free from the forever void inside her, slipping down her ghostly pale cheeks.

**Oh, so wrong! I'm underhanded! Hate this as I bear defeat  
What a surprise, no one to blame… I can no longer be saved!  
Someone please just try to help me, give me more than just one glance  
So when I mess up, I can get up**

**Instead of drowning in my lies until the end!**

"**Ah, maybe I went on a little too long**," Hirari whispered, as if she was still in the song. "**But like I said, it's just a tall tale… Well, that's where I'll stop for today. Next time, I might tell you an even stranger tale.**"

Once she finished, she stood up. "Composing is my only escape," she said, wiping away her tears. "I can write down everything I want to say, want to express… without holding myself back. Though singing channels it better—always has."

"Hirari…" Haruka stood up. STARISH and QUARTET NIGHT entered the room. They all touched her on the hands, the hair, the face, the shoulders, the arm, and Haruka touched her chest, where her heart was. "Don't fight this yourself. We will help you. If only you won't push us away."

"If only I could… but I don't want to get you all involved—"

"We don't care, Hira-chan!" Natsuki exclaimed. "I love it when Haru-chan smiles. Seeing you not smile makes me sad!"

"Hirari, please don't run away from us!" Cecil firmly spoke. "Your music really reaches out to us, and affects us. We _want_ to help you."

"Quit taking this on all by yourself," said Tokiya. "I've heard your voice before. You want someone to save you. Well, _we _can."

"What's wrong with you?" Syo asked. "Just tell us! Try to! Fight, fight!"

Hirari was overwhelmed. QUARTET NIGHT gave her a look, and looks spoke just as much as words. She felt that lump in her throat, but it was different.

"Thank you, everyone…" She could almost cry, but not quite yet. "I'll… well, when the time comes, I'll be free."

She reached out a hand, and ended up holding Haruka's. "Haruka, soon—very, very soon—I'll be back. Don't worry... I won't leave for long."

* * *

**Mythia: Okay, so this was weird. I know. Just. Stfu because I know hahah. (but I'm trying to get it at least a _bit _like the anime because otherwise I feel like it's bad and everything about it is OOC ._.)**

**EPISODE 4 of SEASON 3: Yeah they're BL-ing it up all the way. Oh, and apparently the makers of Utapri decided that they should make Mikaze a robot in the anime too. They also decided that everyone should ship Mikaze with FREAKING SYO AND NATSUKI LIKE WTFFFF. (and Haruka dear no one loves you anymore. Your presence is being forced in every single episode frick Cowhai "Weiss" "Threya" said so)**

**You can't wait until I update because our Hirari-chan will reveal her true colors~! The torture. I know. I love you too.**


	16. Into the Night with the Four

**Mythia: I have a sort-of review of my opinion of "UtaPri: Maji Love Revolutions" on the bottom, if you'd like to see that!  
**

**I've decided to write a bit more before this story ends! Though there won't be much plot moving forward, I just thought that you guys needed a break from all of this Hirari drama. XD**

**And ANNOUNCEMENT! I will be writing a Maji Love Revolutions series featuring our dear Nanami Hirari! "UtaPri: Secret Origins" is placed at a time between the first and second season, so technically the events of Revolutions will be after the events here, BUT! This will not be the case. Maji Love Revolutions will be like a spin-off!**

**Also, I might take requests for scenes you'd like to see, with any of the STARISH characters!**

**Without further ado, I give one more QUARTET NIGHT fluff before the spotlight goes to STARISH. *cries inside* Thank you for your patience! (had to sort things out)**

* * *

XVI: Into the Night with the Four

Mikaze and Ittoki helped Hirari dye her hair back to her natural color, which was a rosy sunset color (Haruka's hair color). When it returned to normal, Hirari wore a light green, ruffled shirt with a flowery print, light blue denim shorts, and a white jacket, along with white, heelless boots.

Everyone stared at her. Her face was slowly getting its color back, with a calmer, more genuine expression.

Hirari looked identical to Haruka, with the facial features. But her hair was longer, and it stopped right above her chest in choppy layers. Her bangs were exactly like Haruka's too.

They noticed that she was skinnier than Haruka. "Do you eat regularly, Hira-ra?" Reiji worriedly questioned.

"No," was her honest answer, rubbing her arm and looking to the side.

"I need to cook you something!" Natsuki exclaimed. A number of people, including Syo, tried to hold him back.

Hirari had heard about Natsuki's cooking. Syo told her a procedure if Natsuki ever happened to make Piyo-chan cookies. He told her to run, not to look back, and stitch her mouth closed. It must've been deadly if she had to do all that.

Her medicine was upgraded so she could move more comfortably. The previous medicine wasn't effective enough for her, and she told her doctor instead of hiding it. Somehow, Haruka and STARISH had gotten Hirari to stay to finish her compositions. Hirari had to hold herself back to not object to this. Saotome had allowed this, since STARISH and QUARTET NIGHT asked for a weeklong break, and they rarely got those lately.

She stayed in a room with QUARTET NIGHT to speak to them.

"Reiji-san," she said, smiling awkwardly at him that couldn't reach her eyes, "thank you for that cheerful atmosphere you bring every day. It encourages me to do the same often, and it was especially helpful when I wanted to be Kido."

"Aw, no problem," Reiji laughed off. He took her face in his hands, which caused Ranmaru to twitch. "You're my little angel, Hira-ra! I hope to get to know you better when you come back." He then kissed her forehead like an older brother would.

Ranmaru stared at her, once she spoke. "Kurosaki-san, you've helped me a lot since I became Kido. Really, I… I honestly didn't think I'd spend so much time with you. You've also been loyal to me in a way. So thank you…"

His face couldn't help but turn pink from what she said. "Y-You're welcome," he muttered.

Hirari then turned to face Camus. "I wish I've gotten to know you better," she said. "But you're a respectable man. I hope we get along well when I come back."

Camus scoffed. "We'll see. You've caused this much trouble already."

Hirari hummed. "I'm sorry for that, Camus-san." She bowed, and turned to Mikaze.

Mikaze looked over her stoically. Hirari looked into her bag for something, and pulled out a song. "Here, Mikaze-san."

The tall, blue-haired youth peered over her composition. With the written title and lyrics on it, he said, "Winter Blossom."

Hirari nodded. "Mikaze-san, I think I've learned a lot from you. You've stuck with me longer than anyone has, probably. I never would've thought that I would get to know you, but then again, we're somewhat alike."

Mikaze then hummed to the tune quietly. "Dakishimete itai, zutto eien ni… Sayonara no jikan tometa mama…" He looked up curiously. "How did you remember the lyrics?"

"I didn't," she said. "Look." She pointed to lyrics that she made up, but were similar to Mikaze's before.

He didn't know why, but Hirari made him smile. It was quite unfortunate that he didn't know how to make her smile. Well, he knew how to make people smile through research, but he never consciously put it to practice…

So he poked her waist.

Hirari flinched. "W-What—?"

"Are we tickle-fighting her?" Reiji slowly asked. "And no one invited me?"

After that, Reiji dove right in, trying to tickle Hirari. Mikaze joined in, and out of this 'what the heck' moment, Ranmaru started poking Hirari's sides too.

"S-Stop," Hirari tried to say, but then a smile came over her, and she started to laugh. It was as if the sun rose, or a new valuable gem has been discovered, because if you've seen _Free!_ and have seen and heard Nanase Haruka laugh with your own eyes and ears, then the sensation was just like that.

When she stopped laughing, she glared at them, but then sighed with a natural smile. "I needed that."

Hirari suddenly felt lighter, like the laugh caused her to feel more emotion slip past her. She'd be fine soon enough, she knew.

Pulling out some other compositions, she gave one to each of the remaining band members. "Make lyrics for these ones, so when I come back, I can help you with your new album," Hirari said. "I also have some duets done between you guys. Haruka and I are working together on something special too."

"Is it a secret? Because I want to know," said Reiji.

"Not really, but I won't tell," she said. The brunet pouted at this. Ranmaru patted her head.

"When are you coming back?" Camus questioned.

Hirari blinked. "Oh, I think I'll be back in a few weeks," she responded. "If not, months."

Reiji widened his eyes. "Wait, what!? That can't be right!"

"No, that's correct," Mikaze spoke. "According to my calculations, Nanami Hirari will be back in six to eight weeks. They will be operating on her lungs."

"She'll be fine," Ranmaru waved off. "That woman survived the tickling with those lungs."

Hirari nodded. "Don't worry, Reiji-san. I'll be back soon."

"Back as yourself, right?" Camus asked. "Not as a new persona?"

"You can _count_ on her!" Reiji joked, though Camus didn't find it funny.

Parting her lips, Hirari turned to Reiji, and said, "Reiji-san, you wanted me to sing a song with you. Well…" She took a deep breath, tilted her head to look at the side sheepishly, and sang, "_I love you tsuite oide, Legend Days, kanaete ageru, Dear my Precious…_"

Reiji laughed hard, and tried to sing, "_Eien no yume, oshieyou~!_"

"I'm not following," Ranmaru interrupted.

"It's nothing," Hirari dismissed, feeling embarrassed but unsure if she was showing it. "Just a song I promised Reiji-san."

"I love you so much Hira-ra!" Reiji hugged the petite girl, who coughed in response. Because of that, Reiji quickly released her, and apologized furiously.

"Reiji," Hirari coughed, "please… do be careful…"

"Love is not allowed as long as we're working for Saotome," Ai said sensibly. "Don't say careless remarks like that, Reiji."

"I don't care! I love you, Hira-ra!"

Hirari made a face. "I'm sure you do, Reiji-san."

"No, you don't understand." He took her hands. Hirari felt strange, as if he'd held her hands before. Reiji gave her a serious look for once, slightly surprising the girl, and said, "You're amazing, Hirari. You make me laugh, smile, and be silly!"

"You're always silly," she pointed out.

"But it's different for me when it comes to you," he insisted. "It's like… how do I put this romantically?"

"… I'm sorry, what—"

He pulled her hand to his chest. She felt his heart pound, and tried her best not to react. "Do you feel that? Listen to it if you want." Reiji then pushed her head into his warmth, and she heard the fast pace of his rhythmic beat.

"I-I…" Hirari wasn't so sure of what she should say. She liked Reiji, but she never would've thought that he would like her like _that_. As a result, she had to take a step back.

"You fool. You probably choked her," Camus huffed, taking Hirari's thin arm. "Enough of that. She's had enough of your antics."

"But I'm serious!" Reiji pressed further. "I'll tell it to the world!"

Mikaze spoke, "I would too, but it's simply not allowed. Saotome will not allow such things while we come from his label."

"W-What?" sputtered Hirari.

Ranmaru scoffed, "What's wrong with all of you? Confessing in such stupid ways?"

"You know you like her too!" Reiji accused, pointing at Ranmaru. "There's something about Hira-ra where it's different, okay? She makes me feel… crazy for her!"

"Huh? W-Why, or how…?" Hirari still couldn't get over Reiji and Mikaze's confession. Were they even confessions? If they were tricking her, why would they? They couldn't be serious… right?

Ranmaru grunted, grabbing Hirari's shoulders, "You're just someone you don't see every day. That's why they… I…" He failed to fight that blush staining his face. "You're also… attractive to me…" He cursed at himself after.

Hirari was silent, unable to speak. Camus was staring at them all, twitching his eyes. Just what were they _saying?_

Of course, Camus couldn't comprehend their admiration and love for the girl his hands were protecting. Sure, she was a calm sort, and sure she was smart and pretty. And sure, she was like a fragile flower. And sure, she smelled like strawberry cream spread on a vanilla cake…

… Yeah, Camus could easily like her too. And he knew why he could.

"Well," he interrupted, grabbing everyone's attention, "You're finishing those songs for STARISH with that girl, are you not? Go already."

Hirari's mind was still trying to sort itself out, and it forced the confessions to the back of her mind. "Thank you," she said as she bowed. "I'll compose for you guys soon."

"And I'll try to get President to let me date you!" vowed Reiji, who earned a smack in return. Hirari smiled nervously, which kind of froze the room for a moment, and left.

Ranmaru plopped himself on the couch. "This room was suffocating," he groaned.

"It was?" Ai questioned. He touched his heart. "How strange. I couldn't process what she was saying very well. And I couldn't move as I wished."

"She drives me crazy," Reiji chuckled. "I want her to write a song for me so bad!"

Camus watched them all with his icy blue eyes. _We are changing at a powerful rate_, he thought. _For better, or for worse... the answer is yet to come._

_Nanami Hirari is no fool to have fooled with our feelings_.

* * *

**Mythia: SEASON 3 HAS ENDED! SO GO! FLY AWAY MAH BIRDIES!**

**My opinion of it until Episode 12: I CAN ONLY SHIP NANAMI WITH RANMARU *huffs* BUT THAT'S TOTALLY OKAY YEAH UH-HUH YAAAAAY.**

**So STARISH is gay, QUARTET NIGHT loves Haruka, and HEAVENS (Ep. 13) has made a comeback with freaking *SPOILET ALERT!* *SPOILET ALERT!* their own version of STARISH (7 people, meaning 4 completely new characters!), though I'm not sure if they're gay for each other yet. (Plus one of the guys look like Sakamaki Shuu *drools*) *SPOILER ALERT!* *SPOILER ALERT!***

**I was freaking WAITING for HEAVENS. Like, my eyes were peeled for them. On the way, Mikaze had to be gay too (though it's not his fault with Syo's face in his view all the time) ;u; Oh, and Ranmaru got some brownie points with Haruka. And Reiji was SOOOO CLOSE. "I love you... Just kidding!" DON'T "JUST KIDDING" ME YOU FREAKING UGH.**

**There's some more I'd like to say, but I'll just close it with the fact that they said "Revolution" way too many times and that STARISH keeps saying and doing the same thing one after the other.**

**"Nanami!"**

**"Nanami-san!"**

**"Haruka!"**

**"My Lady!"**

**"Nanami-san!"**

**"Nanami!"**

**"Haru-chan!"**

**GUHHHHH.**

**Plus I realized that there are so many ways you can say, "Please write a song for us." Like, JUST MOVE ON WITH THE STORY ALREADY, YOU'RE WASTING THOSE PRECIOUS SECONDS OF MY LIFE I'M PULLING MAH HAIR HERE.**

**But all in all, new characters here, and "See you next season!" despite me disliking this third season, has my hopes up a bit! The ending sure was a nice surprise that I'm sure you'd guys would like. :) Though... waiting for 2 more years will be harsh. I'll be an old lady by then *bawls***

**Next chapter will be the STARISH arc, posting in 2-3 weeks! And then... well, that'll make this story have 30+ chapters. Yay for the sake of saying yay!**


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